SMSD releases plan for 2020-2021 school year

The SMSD Board of Education released their plan for the 2020-21 school year. 

During the July 27 board meeting, the district shared the revised calendar and announced classes will begin on Sept. 8 for freshman and seniors. Sophomores and juniors will begin on Sept. 9. 

With the new calendar, spring break has been moved to the first week of April instead of the original March dates. East seniors will now graduate on June 1, but the last day of school for grades 9-11 has been pushed to June 10. There will also be no late starts throughout the year. 

This fall semester, families will choose between two options — remote or in-person learning. Both will include mandatory grades, assessments and attendance. 

OPTION ONE – In-person learning 

In-person learning means the student will be given instruction based on the status of COVID-19 cases in Johnson County, so students who choose this option might not go back in-person right away. 

The district may adapt this learning style as the amount of cases fluctuate and as recommendations are given by health professionals. The student could eventually participate in fully in-person learning, but may have to learn remotely or in a hybrid style while cases remain high. 

The hybrid style would only occur if the district feels it is safe for students to attend school at half capacity.

With this learning style, each student’s schedule will be determined by alphabetical order. Students who have a last name that begins with A-L will learn on-site Monday and Tuesday, with virtual learning on Wednesday and Thursday. Students who have a last name that begins with M-Z will be on-site Wednesday and Thursday, with virtual learning on Monday and Tuesday. 

This schedule would also include classes being split among the two days to maximize learning. On Monday and Wednesday, students would only attend hours 1-4 and a seminar period. On Tuesday and Thursday, students would only attend hours 5-7 and a seminar period. 

On Fridays, all students would work from home, except for some small groups that could meet for extra help — these groups would be determined based on academic need at a later time. 

If cases decline to a point where the district feels it is safe to return, students who chose this option may also go back to school in-person full time. 

Both the hybrid option and the in-person option require social distancing and safety protocols. According to the presentation District Superintendent Dr. Mike Fulton gave during the July 22 Board Meeting, the district would make sure there’s personal distancing, hand hygiene, masks, gloves and gowns as needed. 

The district has also developed cleaning and sanitizing strategies, with more attention drawn to disinfecting high-touch surfaces. They will also add atomizing misters to schools and increase fan speed and levels of filtration to improve air quality. 

OPTION TWO – Remote Learning

Through remote learning, the student would participate in virtual classes throughout the entire first semester. 

The district will hire appropriately licensed teachers and administration to specifically serve the remote learning students as they learn from home. Canvas and WebEx would be utilized while students learn virtually, and the district has changed their safety network system from Cisco to Lightspeed with the hopes of fixing previous VPN issues. 

Students who choose this option cannot attend on-site learning at any time during the semester — even if it’s deemed safe at a later time. The district also stated there will most likely be some elective courses that aren’t available with remote learning. 

If the student is learning virtually, they’ll be required to document 390 minutes of daily learning activities. This documentation will be necessary for all remote learning, including for students who participate in hybrid learning. 

Families will receive information about making the selection between these options in their email inbox within the next week. 

The district is continuing to develop their plan as circumstances change daily, and will release information on fall sports as they hear recommendations from KSHSAA. 

“What we are working hard to produce is a system of learning that can survive whatever the health conditions are on the ground, and very importantly, keep every student and staff member safe,” Dr. Fulton said during the July 22 Board Meeting.