The Wayland Union school district next year may begin a program intended to win back students lost to virtual learning during the pandemic in 2021 and 2022.

Superintendent Tim Reeves told school board members during a work session Monday night there are special programs in Kent County that allow students to use virtual learning Monday through Thursday each week and then set aside time each Friday to meet in person with qualified instructors.

Reeves said the upside would be the return of those students to the local district and a 50-50 split in state aide revenue with the virtual leaning program.

“So some of the revenue from these students will become ours,” Reeves explained. He added that he generally favors instruction over Internet courses, but in this situation half a loaf is better than none.

Theresa Fulk, assistant superintendent for instruction, said there indeed are students in this area who do on-line learning only, some of whom are homebound for medical reasons.

Reeves stressed only those students who left the Wayland district during the pandemic would be eligible to participate. He added that the closest such program to Wayland is run through Kelloggsville.

The local schools district might be on the hook financially for providing students at home for a computer.

Though Wayland currently doesn’t have an Internet learning option, it’s not the only district that’s looking into this program, Reeves said. He added he sees this as “a targeted way to get back the students we lost during the pandemic… Our ultimate goal is to steer these students back into our schools. It’s hard to say no to the money when it’s going somewhere else.”

In other business at the work session, the board:

• Had a lengthy discussion about the evaluation of Reeves as superintendent after he came on board last June. Categories under review include community relations, school board relations, personnel improvement plans, delegation of authority, progress on district goals labor and relations, but perhaps his important and difficult task ahead will be replacing retiring Pat Velie, assistant superintendent for finances and operations, who will leave June 30.
• Held a discussion about the process of naming buildings after people, noting Phil Regan and Ron Stehouwer had the baseball and football fields named after them for their fame. Others, such as Steeby Elementary and Baker Elementary, were named for people who gave longtime service to the district and community.
• Heard from Reeves that compliance with the board’s March 2021 insistence on forest green and white colors varies, with the bowling team and girls’ basketball team uniforms somewhat non-conforming with obvious presence of black.
• Approved requests for a landscaping project as a memorial tribute to longtime teacher and coach Jody Tyler and a library book nook at Baker Elementary to commemorate literacy teacher Katrina Brown.