St. Paul Public Schools students would attend in-person classes twice a week but have the option of full-time distance learning if state education leaders call for a hybrid approach to education this fall.
School district leaders detailed their tentative plans for the school board on Tuesday night.
State leaders are expected to announce sometime next week whether schools will be allowed to reopen in the fall, and whether they can do so at full capacity or with students learning from home some of the time.
Whatever the state decides, St. Paul schools will likely be less than full if they do reopen in September.
A recent district survey found 26 percent of families would choose full-time distance learning, even if schools reopen for in-person classes. An additional 43 percent of families would consider that option, which the Department of Education says schools must make available during the coronavirus pandemic.
If St. Paul moves ahead with a hybrid approach, students attending in-person classes will be divided into two groups. One would go to school Monday and Tuesday, the other group Wednesday and Thursday. Students would learn from home the rest of the week.
Siblings should be able to attend on the same schedules, district leaders said.
The district also intends to establish centers where students can get face-to-face support for distance learning. The district is early in its planning, but “We want to be able to offer this,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said, adding that the concept is academic help, not child care.
St. Paul also plans to continue offering fee-based child care before and after school.
Even if many families choose distance learning, the district would face major transportation cost increases as it looks to maintain social distancing on school buses.
To control costs under the hybrid scenario, parents would be asked to drive their own children to school, if possible, Chief Operations Officer Jackie Turner said. And schools would stagger their daily schedules to limit the number of students arriving and departing at any given time.
Other district plans include:
- Mandatory face coverings for staff, providing by the district.
- For now, students won’t be required to wear masks, but the district hopes to make some available for those who want them.
- Meals at school will be prepackaged and water bottles provided for each student.
- Each building will have a room separate from the nurse’s office where sick students can wait to be picked up.
- Schools also will have rooms where staff and families can catch up on updating students’ special education plans.
- Team sports plans are being made for whichever model the state allows.
St. Paul district students last attended in-person classes on March 9, before a teacher strike and the coronavirus pandemic forced them to stay home.
Come September, the district must be ready for all three scenarios: full distance learning, a hybrid approach and full in-person instruction without strict social distancing. That’s because the instruction model could change, depending on the virus’s spread.
“We have to be nimble and ready to be in any one of those scenarios at any time,” said Craig Anderson, executive director of the teaching and learning office.
