Dover schools prepare after ’tough call’ to go remote

DOVER – School Board member Rachel Burdin apologized to parents Tuesday, a day after the board voted to approve a “primarily virtual model” for the upcoming school year.

“I’m so sorry, particularly to all the working parents out there, single working parents in particular,” Burdin said Tuesday during a Zoom video conference meeting hosted by state Sen. David Watters, who represents Dover and other local communities. “I know we have put you in an impossible position. To a certain extent we’ve been put in an impossible position.”

The School Board voted unanimously to start the school year with a remote, or virtual, learning model that would allow for “a form of in-person instruction for the students who need it the most,” School Board Chair Amanda Russell said.

That will likely include some special needs students, and in some cases, if possible, students taking certain Career Technical Center courses, she and other board members said during Monday’s special board meeting.

The model will be evaluated every few weeks as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As that evaluation continues, Burdin pledged to “fight to get as many students in the school buildings as will be safe and as we can handle.”

“We are aware of just the massive child care emergency right now that schools are a part of,” she said. “We are going to do our best to support you through this time.”

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The board chose between a totally in-person model for students, a blend of in-person classes twice a week and virtual learning three days a week, and the virtual learning model.

By “going mostly virtual,” Burdin said, it allows the school district to use their “limited resources on kids who really need to be in person.”

During an interview Tuesday, Dover School District Superintendent William Harbron stressed the board’s priority in making its decision was to “keep our students and staff safe.”

“This was not an easy decision for anybody. We’re all dealing with an unknown environment, trying to make the best decisions with the knowledge we have,” Harbron said. “They made a decision based on all the information they had.”

The first day of school will be Sept. 9, later than normal, which will allow for teachers to have several professional development days, Harbron said.

Now that the School Board has picked a back-to-school model, school district officials can begin “getting into much more of the weeds” about how virtual learning will work in 2020-21, Harbron said. All students in New Hampshire public schools went to remote learning from March to the end of the 2019-20 school year as well.

The district will also begin work on planning how to deliver devices to students and whether to conduct orientation in person, and if so, how, he said.

The board’s decision led to an explosion of discussion on social media, both pro and con.

Harbron said he has received “emails on both sides.”

“Some of them are extremely positive and saying thanks and you have the other side who definitely wants the schools reopened,” he said. “I know we have all different types of feelings out there.”

School Board member Zachary Koehler said the board is working to address “the students we know need to have that in person education, the ones with special services.”

“It is still right now in the planning phases,” he said about the plans for those students to receive in-person learning.

He added during the Zoom meeting hosted by Watters that “this is when the real work is going to start happening now.”

Koehler noted that the district is “going to be on the hook for paying for” meals for students receiving free and reduced costs lunches “and for all students.”

As School Board members considered a blended model, there were “still so many costs that were up in the air,” he said.

The district estimated it would cost $50,000 per additional bus if the district had to transport students during the pandemic.

“We need to be careful because we do not want to blow a hole in our budget,” he said during the Zoom meeting.

In terms of virtual learning, Koehler said there will be a “huge emphasis now on a set schedule.”

When emergency remote learning started in March, the “entire world was really in unchartered territory,” he said.

But the school district has had the summer to prepare for virtual learning.

“We learned from our mistakes,” he said.

People posting on The (un)Official City of Dover, NH Dover Facebook group page weighed in on the board’s decision. A sampling of the comments, with the identities people used on the page, follows here:

Michele Houle Walsh stated that parents should have been given “the option” about the learning model.

“Kids need healthy socializing and structure,” she posted. “Elementary kids did not do well with remote in most experiences … A hybrid would be a better option with the choice to choose if you want them in a classroom or not.”

Mariah Lemieux-Lupien stated she initially favored a hybrid model.

“But after things started opening back up and a lot of people being really irresponsible without wearing masks or practicing social distancing, I changed my mind,” she posted.

Lauren Meader posted that she didn’t “envy anyone in the position of making these decisions because damned if you do, damned if you don't. All 3 of my kids were in high school last year, and 2 continue on,” she posted. “School is a breeding ground. Everyone not happy would then likely be even more upset.”

Laura Morreale posted that the School Board’s decision was “disheartening and I feel not based on facts and science.”

“I have lost all trust in the Dover school board and I don’t feel anyone has done their due diligence as needed on this subject,” she posted. “Has anyone asked or talked to private daycares? We are attending one now that has done exceptionally well to make it a positive environment for the kids and teachers/staff!”

The School Board is scheduled to meet Monday to continue preparations for the new school year.