ROCKVILLE, Md. — One of Maryland’s largest school districts is expected to vote Thursday on how to reopen its schools for in-person learning.
Montgomery County Public Schools [MCPS] has discussed ways to safely bring back students to campuses, amid the coronavirus’ spread, since the beginning of the school year.
The school system, and its board of education, consulted Montgomery Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles as to what practices it should consider in the future.
"We are continuing to rely on our state, the CDC, and on our local health organizations to give us recommendations on how to move forward with all of the health information that is out there,” said MCPS Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith during a November board of education work session.
Ultimately, school and health leaders developed a “Health Metric Matrix.” It dictates how the school system should proceed with phased-in hybrid learning when the county reaches a certain positivity rate and 14-day average new case rate.
MCPS spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala says students in some MCPS special education and career and technology education programs could begin hybrid learning on January 12 so long as the health matrix shows it is safe for them to return.
Onijala said MCPS could also begin the phasing-in of other student groups on February 1 dependent upon what the county’s health statistics show at the time.
The MCPS Board of Education will vote on whether it should follow the phased-in approach, guided by the health matrix, Thursday. Dr. Smith said further discussions should be expected in December and January on how the school system will proceed with hybrid learning as well.
"We cannot ignore our health professionals, but we do need to feel a sense of urgency to reopen schools in the absolute soonest we can," Smith said.
MCPS has also sent the county’s families a survey to see how many people are interested in hybrid learning. MCPS is accepting the surveys through Thursday.
“It is critical that we hear from all families because the number of responses and selections will impact our overall planning for how we deliver instruction both in-person and virtually,” Onijala said. “ It will also impact the number of school buildings that we open.”
There are many opinions in Montgomery County as to what the school system should do next.
Sara Berkholtz has two children in Montgomery County Public Schools. She says one of them has special needs.
Berkholtz said she still has concerns regarding the school district’s plans. She said she is disappointed her child with special needs would not be allowed to be one of the first students back under the school system’s proposed guidelines.
“I think that it’s important that all families have an option to return, specifically families of students with special needs,” she said.
Berkholtz said her child’s switch from an Individualized Education Program to an Individualized Distance Learning Plan, under the virtual learning model, has cost him 12 hours a week of services he would normally get in a classroom setting.
She adds her son, whose needs are related to speech and motor skills, has experienced a severe regression over the last year.
“We've seen him having struggles with pronouncing one and two-syllable words that, six months ago, he was able to say just fine,” Berkholtz said.
She said if county leaders can figure out ways to keep businesses like restaurants open, they can also come up with a safe way to return all students with special needs to in-person learning if they choose to do so.
“I was one of the ones over the summer who was very apprehensive about the hybrid model in the fall,” Berkholtz said. “I understand that there are a lot of logistical issues with reopening I truly do and we waited and we saw the impact of reopening in other school systems that are similar to our size, similar to our county's population, and our COVID-19 cases. And, we've seen that can be done.”
Chris Lloyd, president of the Montgomery County Education Association [MCEA], said his organization supports the reopening of schools if it is done safely.
“So long as we meet the health metrics set by scientists and our medical professionals in the county, as well as, we need the proper health and safety protocols in place and followed,” he said. “We just want everybody to be safe when we go back.”
Lloyd said the MCEA is currently bargaining with MCPS to make sure the appropriate amount of personal protection equipment is provided to teaching staff and that all infrastructure is up to code in school buildings to facilitate a safe return.
He also said the MCEA is working to clearly determine how MCPS will handle certain staff who feel uncomfortable reentering schools.
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“We're looking to define that teacher choice to allow folks to stay because some of our folks will say, ‘yep, I'm ready to go back’,” Lloyd said. “I've got other folks who say, you know, ‘I don't qualify for an ADA accommodation.’”
Lloyd said while some teachers have reservations about in-person learning others are excited just to see their students in person again.
He said, ultimately, it will be up to locals in the community to do what is needed to flatten the curve so MCPS can return to some sense of normalcy.
“We all have to do our part,” he said. “Mask up, wash your hands, socially distance, let's drive this curve down because we are all responsible for that in our community.”