Hopkins parents lobby for face-to-face instruction

Hopkins is beginning just its fourth week under a hybrid system of students attending school, but restless parents already are lobbying them to switch to face-to-face classes.

Andrea Buist, a parent who was a member of a committee last summer to help decide how schools should reopen, told board members Monday evening, “I believe it’s time to re-evaluate the decision,” referring to the board’s to implement a hydrid system.

Most Allegan County schools opted for having one group of students classrooms Mondays and Thursdays and other Tuesdays and Fridays, with all students getting instruction on line Wednesdays. It was seen as a compromise in the effort to keep children safe because of the health threat of the Covid-19 virus.

However, Martin schools opted for five days a week in-person because it has a small population. Martin last week reported two Covid cases, one a student, another a staff member.

Undaunted, Ms. Buist said, “Our kids are struggling with the hybrid system, it’s unsustainable. Our kids should be in school every day, they’re getting too much face time on their computers.”

Board President Jeff Gilder responded, “We understand the ultimate goal is to get the kids back in school, and we’re working on that.”

Ms. Buist said, “There’s a certain joy to learning in the classroom (as opposed to sitting in front of a computer)… We’d like to know what your plan is moving forward, hoping that this *the hybrid system) is just a temporary solution.”

Chandler Stanton, who will be seated as a Dorr Township Board Trustee in two months, said he appreciates all of the board’s hard work on behalf of the students, but he asserted his agreement with everything Buist said.

In other business, at Monday’s meeting, the board:

• Was told by Supt. Gary Wood that estimates are Hopkins has lost between 90 and 100 students this fall, most of them in the elementaries and middle school.

“We knew we’d be down (because of the Covid crisis), most schools in the county are down,” Wood said.

• Welcomed new teachers Megan Barg, special education; Alyssa Griffhorst, kindergarten; Kelly Mottes, Young Fives; Renee Yarrington, kindergarten; Christine Hoezee, resource room, and Amy Yuengort, English as a Second Language, high school.
• Recognized retiring staffers Denise Cardenas, 31 years, elementary; Chris Johnson, 20 years, maintenance, and Shelly Wicks, 31 years, bus driver and dance instructor.