Wayland Union Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Hinds is attempting to clarify the local district’s “back to school” plans approved in the midst of the Covid-19 virus pandemic.
The Board of Education Monday night approved an Enhanced Hybrid” plan that eventually intends to get students into more in-person classroom instruction, but for now cautiously seeks to improve the current hybrid instructional model.
“We’re actually transitioning to an Enhanced Hybrid schedule at the start of second trimester (next month),” the superintendent said. “This will continue the same schedule for students in groups A and B with improvements made based on parent feedback and teacher work sessions.”
Hinds and members of the district’s School Improvement Committee last Wednesday came up with two options on how to proceed after school board members said they weren’t satisfied with simply continuing the hybrid. Students, staff and teachers now go to school in two different groups (A and B), one on Mondays and Thursdays and the other Tuesdays and Fridays, with Wednesdays set aside for remote learning via the Internet.
The Health Department has designated letter assessments for schools, based on how they are coping with the virus threat. Wayland currently is a D, which is only one step above insistence on going all on-line.
The superintendent said the immediate goal is to finish the first trimester intact, begin the second with a gradual process of improving the hybrid system, slowly allowing all students back into classrooms more frequently and eventually getting back to five days a week.
If conditions improve early in the second trimester, it is possible schools could be open four days a week of in-person instruction. School officials said they will work closely with the health department in the next month.
The local district over the weekend received news that one student from Steeby Elementary, a spectator at Friday night’s home football game and a high school student and middle school student have tested positive for the Coronavirus and now are quarantined.
