School Board re-evaluates hybrid schedule

Possibility of moving virtual days from Fridays to Wednesdays after Labor Day

School Board re-evaluates hybrid schedule

Abby Moutardier, Editor-in-Chief

With Labor Day coming near, the School Board announced at the August 25 work session plans for the hybrid schedule to continue, with some slight changes. 

“I think we should continue with our A/B schedule for 7-12 at least until October 18,” Superintendent Dr. Brad Snyder said.  “I think we need to go down this road, see what our experience is, see where the virus is, what science is saying. We’ll make another decision for the second nine weeks.”

The new plan would start September 8, and consist of “traditional” students still going to classes in the building two days a week; students in the A group (last names A-K) would go on Mondays and Thursdays while the B group (last names L-Z) would go into building Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesday will become a virtual day for all students K-12. 

“It supports more time spacing between the A/B students and gives another 24 hours in there,” Dr. Snyder said.  “If an A student has a positive test, we now have a 48 hour window, and maybe that prevents us from having to close. My thought is that we don’t want to have to go virtual all day every day. That would mean our plan isn’t working.” 

The original hybrid schedule was similar, with the differences being which days traditional students report to the building. Originally, group A went into school Mondays and Wednesdays and group B on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays were virtual for grades 7-12, with two Fridays being virtual for all grades. Members of the board and central administration mentioned switching to virtual Wednesdays would give teachers additional time to work together, and fix any issues they may have with virtual. 

“Teachers need some help, and they can help each other,” Dr. Snyder said. “If we give them some collaboration time on Wednesday, [they can] discuss some problems and solutions. If we can fix some of these issues the first nine weeks, the thought is we have a better second, third and fourth nine weeks.” 

Field trips continue to be no longer allowed. 

The schedule will be re-evaluated after fall break.