Dover school leaders ask patience for remote learning plan

DOVER – It will likely be at least a couple of weeks before school officials release final schedules for the primarily remote learning model that will start in September.

The Dover School Board voted unanimously last week to adopt the virtual learning model as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Horne Street Elementary School Principal Patty Driscoll told School Board members they’ve shared draft virtual schedules with teachers, and are “waiting for their feedback.”

She stated that the final schedules should be released “within two weeks,” but acknowledged “it might even be a little bit longer.”

“We are working just as fast as we can,” Driscoll said during Monday’s School Board meeting.

She said elementary school students likely won’t find out who their teachers will be until “the end of August.”

School Board Chair Amanda Russell asked about the timeline for the release of the schedules.

“That was the piece that I think that was discussed the most,” she said.

“The sooner we can communicate that kind of detail out the sooner we can get better buy in,” she added. She told residents to “keep waiting for further details.”

“It’s 4,000 kids we are trying to schedule,” Russell said.

The board also on Monday voted unanimously to require teachers and staff to be in the school buildings for remote learning whenever possible.

“We feel it’s very important if feasible to have staff working in the building,” Superintendent William Harbron said during Monday’s meeting. “We feel that by bringing people together we can have a higher degree of supervision and coordination, support as well as accountability for continued improvement of the virtual learning.”

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At the same time, Harbron said, there are “people who are going to have to have ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accommodations, as well as others who filed notifications under the Family and Medical Leave Act and Family First Coronovirus Response Act.

“You have over 100 staff members” who indicated they might file under the programs, he said.

“Our preference is to bring as many … staff back as possible,” Harbron said.

Teachers and staff working in the buildings “would follow all protocols that are being developed,” he said.

Teachers working in a classroom alone would not have to wear masks, Harbron said.

Russell noted that “just as with the virtual reopening vote we had last week … there’s still more to be examined and figured out in this plan. ... I would beg people to have patience while that all works out and not panic yet.’

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,” Russell said.

That will likely include some special needs students, and in some cases, if possible, students taking certain Career Technical Center courses.

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