Dover schools plan 3 models for 2020-21

DOVER – The city School Board is set to hold a special meeting next week, when it will be presented with three models for the upcoming school year.

“One model is back to school as normal, one is totally virtual or remote and the third model, which we’re working on right now, is a hybrid model that’s in the middle between the two,” Superintendent William Harbron said Monday.

He expects the School Board meeting will be held next Wednesday or Thursday night, which will give school district officials more time to work on their presentation to the board.

But the meeting has not yet been officially scheduled.

Looking at the health and safety guidelines released by Gov. Chris Sununu last week, Harbron believes it’s most likely the School Board will go with some kind of a hybrid model, involving in-person and remote learning.

“A number of families say they would like to remain in remote learning, and we will find a way to accommodate them,” Harbron said.

The School Board is “expected to look at various models, look at everything we’ve put together, and hopefully select the model that they prefer,” Harbron said.

“But they may ask for additional information,” he added.

The top concern remains keeping students, staff and teachers safe as school resumes, Harbron said.

“I think what we have to do is make sure we put in place the necessary protocols so that we’re protecting health and safety of everybody involved,” Harbron said. “That’s a complex problem, but it has to be our top priority.”

In hopes of achieving that goal, Harbron has put together “a team of local physicians, along with nurses” to consult with school officials on safety protocols.

They will be working with the various design teams that the school district has set up to address things like keeping students socially distanced while on the bus or in school cafeterias.

The school district recently received almost 1,700 parent responses to a survey relating to the “emergency remote learning” in the spring and the restart of school, Harbron said.

“Our initial survey showed there is a percentage of people who liked to remain remote,” he said.

The school district is sending out a second survey to try to get the names of all the families who want to commit to remote learning in the 2020-2021 school year, he said.

He believes that survey will show that “there’s going to be families opting out from all different grade levels.”

In terms of feedback from the initial survey, it was “all over the place,” Harbron said.

One of the major concerns they heard is making sure “the days are consistent and structured,” he said.

“That’s very important, particularly to families who are returning to work, how are they going to make remote learning work,” Harbron said.

Unlike when the school district adopted emergency remote learning in the spring, officials have had time to prepare for the fall.

The school district also made a major investment in technology so that every student has a device.

“Principals have been working on their daily schedules and the technology has been ordered and it’s started to arrive,” Harbron said. “We’re in a whole different position with the upgrade in technology and online curriculum than we were before.”

Right now, students are scheduled to resume school Sept. 2.

But Harbron acknowledged they might need an additional few days so they’re prepared to resume classes.

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