Two area school superintendents say they were surprised when new state guidelines were released recently allowing for some summer activities such as in-person summer school. But Salt Fork Superintendent Phil Cox and Westville Unit 2 Superintendent Seth Miller say they still don’t know whether students will be back in classrooms this fall. They were commenting on WDAN Radio’s Direct Line program (on June 11, 2020).
Both Cox and Miller had high praise for teachers who switched to helping students online when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But Cox added…
{‘’If I’m talking about how effective e-learning is for K-12, if I’m being generous I’ll give it a D – maybe an F. I just do not feel like it’s an effective way to do instruction for K-12 education. Especially for our youngest and our most vulnerable learners you simply cannot replicate what a teacher does live in a classroom,’’ said Cox.}
Westville Superintendent Seth Miller says allowing some summer activities with students is a welcome first step….
{‘’I guess I was pleasantly surprised that it appears we’re trying to be flexible. I’ve heard the term go where the data takes you, and it seems that state and federal, or local requirements that allow for that flexibility is a positive sign,’’ said Superintendent Miller.
Cox says the Illinois State Board of Education has still not released any solid plans yet for classes this fall for kindergarten through 12th grade.
‘’We’re being told to prepare for every option but to not come up with any firm plans at this point,’’ said the Salt Fork Superintendent. ‘’We’re being told basically three possibilities. One would be a return to in-person learning but with restrictions in place – social distancing. …If those are very restrictive like the current ones – it’s going to be very difficult.’’
‘’We’re also being told to prepare for a hybrid model where part of the time kids are in school, and part of the time they’re learning at home,’’ said Cox. ‘’So you’re going to start hearing the term ‘A-Day’ and ‘B-Day’ thrown around a lot – where half of the kids would attend on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the other half of kids would attend (school) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So we’re being told to possibly prepare something like that. And we’re also being told that there might be a possibility that things are bad and you will need to keep doing e-learning the whole time. I sincerely hope that’s not what we’re going to be doing – we need to have kids back in the buildings,’’ added Cox.
[Direct Line is heard each Thursday morning after the 8:00 a.m. world and local news on WDAN 1490 am Radio. It is a presentation of the Second Church of Christ in Danville and often features guests. You can hear the entire program with Superintendents Cox and Miller by clicking the ‘On Demand’ button on VermilionCountyFirst.com.]
