In-person to e-learning
Students and staff within the Lake Central School Corporation have had to adapt to switching between in-person learning and remote learning due to COVID-19. So far, there have been two periods in which the district has decided to go fully remote for all students.
“We’re trying to maintain some flexibility for our staff to keep the academics as close to where they normally are as possible, but for the most part, traditional classes will take a pause,” Superintendent Dr. Larry Veracco said.
Dr. Veracco said that the first time this occurred was due to increasing COVID-19 cases within students and staff. A number of staff members were unable to come to work due to close-contact quarantine guidelines after fall break.
For the middle and high schools, this period of remote learning lasted from November 17 to December 7. The elementary schools COVID-19 numbers were not as high as the middle and high school’s rates, so the remote learning period for the elementary schools was only from November 23 to December 7.
Administration is working toward keeping in-person learning going as long as possible, especially for the elementary students. The elementary classes thrive when using hands-on teaching and interactive learning methods, so when taken out of the classroom, students may have a more difficult time retaining information.
“I’m glad that for elementary students it’s only going to be [remote for] seven days because it’s much more difficult for them to do the work without their teacher,” Veracco said. “The older students are able to work independently. Many of them, though, still benefit greatly from in-person instruction and we know that.”
Parents and guardians of elementary students must also make arrangements for their students to be taken care of while they are at work. If needed, there are resources available for these students at the schools through Adventure Club. Administrators are aware that making arrangements to get a babysitter, or arranging a time with a daycare or adventure club is difficult to do with short notice.
“We really feel that elementary parents need a little more time to make arrangements. Three of our elementary schools are still doing quite well with the level of infection. We just think pausing the whole thing will allow us to get back to full strength,” Veracco said.
“In the meantime, since the elementary schools are open three days longer, we will shift some staff to those six buildings and support them with some full-time subs and some instructional aids to help them get through those last three days.”
After seeing what happened after a three day holiday break, administrators made the decision to put a district-wide week of remote learning in place after the two week winter break to allow for a quarantine period after the holidays.
“The experts last summer said schools should be prepared to pause. The virus is controlling the decision making process. We’re used to being in control, and we’re not in control and it’s hard for people to accept. But the experts said you need to be prepared to pause when the infection rate goes up and then you bring it back down and then you grind some more,” Veracco said.
If families traveled or saw family for Christmas, they would be able to complete the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended 14 day quarantine period while still attending school on the same platform as all other students. This period of remote learning also allowed for anyone who may have come into contact with COVID-19 over winter break to quarantine with minimal in-person learning time lost.
“We do not feel like we have all the answers or know everything. We’re continuing to operate in an unknown environment. We’re doing the best we can based on the advice of experts. I want to make sure everyone knows how proud we are of our staff and everybody who has been dedicated to teaching and learning. I believe our students have had a great experience thus far this year,” said Veracco.
The decision to move the district to a fully online learning platform for short periods of time slows the spread of COVID-19, and ensures the safest learning environment possible for returning to in-person classes.
“While it’s not the same, it’s still better than nothing. We applaud everybody that’s worked hard and we applaud the students too because their behavior has been really good this year, they’ve appreciated being in person, and that’s nice to see.”
Changes to the School Board
The first school board meeting of the new year took place January 4, in which Dr. Janice Malchow, Dr. Jennifer Medlen and Cindy Sues were sworn in and officer positions were elected. The organizational meeting was shortly followed by a regular board meeting.
Malchow and Sues have served on the school board during previous years and restated their oath of office. However this will be Medlen’s first year serving as a member of the board, and she took the oath for the first time.
"[Being on the school board] is definitely an exciting prospect. It comes with a lot of responsibility that I am very much looking forward to. I’m looking forward to learning more about legislative action and more about how schools are funded [and] learning more about how we can better support our teachers and staff,” Medlen said.
Officer positions were also elected during the organizational meeting. Sues will remain President, Malchow will take over the Vice President position and Howard Marshall will remain Secretary.
The next school board meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19, at 7:00 p.m. in the LGI room. All meetings are live streamed on https://www.youtube.com/user/LCTVNEWS.