School district intends to stick with hybrid learning, for now

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

With Thanksgiving break looming, the Charles City School District intends to remain in its hybrid learning plan, and doesn’t intend to go to full remote learning from home until conditions leave no other choice.

“I’ve committed to sticking to our matrix,” said Charles City Superintendent Mike Fisher. “I’m not saying our matrix is perfect, but we came up with it with the best amount of knowledge we had at the time.”

Fisher told the school district board of directors at Monday’s meeting that he knows he won’t be able to keep everyone happy, but he intends to keep the schools open as long as the numbers allow him too.

“We are trying to be cognitive of the question, ‘will the solution cause more problems than it solves?’” Fisher said. “Unfortunately, we are in a situation where there is no good answer, so you try to choose the answer that’s less bad.”

In October, the board approved a hybrid-decision making matrix that takes into consideration student absence rates and transmission rates within Floyd County as metrics to determine whether to remain teaching on site, to go back to the hybrid learning plan, or to close school altogether and go to full remote learning.

“It’s good that we have the matrix, so we aren’t making emotional decisions, we’re following logical guidelines,” said director Missy Freund. “It’s good that we have that framework to follow.”

The school district received an official waiver Nov. 16 from the Iowa Department of Education to go to full remote learning whenever it chooses, if necessary. The waiver is good for two weeks of full-time remote learning, and the district can adjust the start date as needed.

Fisher said said Monday that as of now the district will remain in hybrid learning after Thanksgiving.

“If it gets to the point where we don’t have enough staff, or the absentee range is too high, or we’re finding community spread all over our campus, keeping the schools open will no longer be an option,” he said.

Fisher said the student absentee rate was 6.6% on Friday and 6.4% Monday. With positivity rates for COVID-19 testing in Floyd County consistently above the 20% mark, student absentee rates reaching 10% or higher would trigger the move to remote learning.

Fisher said that on Friday there were 29 staff members unable to attend school because of COVID-19. Two more staff members tested positive over the weekend. The district reported a total of 16 COVID-19 cases total on Monday, and 123 individuals currently in quarantine.

Fisher said that middle school Principal Tom Harskamp actually served lunch last week, and Fisher himself substitute taught a physical education class.

“It was a ton of fun actually, but when I’m the only one available to teach a PE class, you know we’re short-handed,” he said. “It’s getting pretty desperate.”

Director Pat Rottinghaus said she was concerned about Thanksgiving break.

“We can’t control what people do over Thanksgiving, and I’m hoping people will think about that so we can keep the schools open,” she said.

Freund echoed those concerns.

“We all want to keep our kids in school, and I know everyone wants to see their family, Freund said. “I just hope that everyone is as smart as they can be about this, or in two weeks we might see a different story. Please listen to the recommendations that are out there, and let’s all work together so we can keep our kids in the school.”

Fisher said the majority of the staff wants to stay in school for as long as it possibly can, and that in discussions with Floyd County Public Health and with administration at Floyd County Medical Center, there are concerns that if the district goes to full remote learning there is a chance it could make matters worse.

He said that the school can’t control where students and teachers are, and can’t control if they are socially distancing or wearing masks, whereas in school they can “stringently control” those things.

“We haven’t seen proof of community spread in our classrooms,” Fisher said. “That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened and it doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but we do a lot of contact tracing, and we have yet to trace spread back to our classrooms.”

Fisher said that there was evidence of community spread at a couple different school activities, but both of those cases could be traced back to people not wearing masks.

“In our classrooms, our kids have been very consistent about wearing their masks, and they deserve a lot of credit for that,” Fisher said. “I believe that the one thing that’s kept us safe and kept us going is consistent mask wearing in our classrooms.”

In other business Monday, the board:
— Approved the appointment of Karleen Sickman, assistant varsity girls basketball coach, at a salary of $4,012, effective Nov. 23.
— Approved the appointment of Brady Girken, assistant varsity bowling coach, at a salary of $2,173, effective Nov. 23.
— Approved the appointment of Kevin Clipperton as volunteer High School boys basketball coach, effective Nov. 23.
— Approved the purchase of a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban for $42,886.70 from Karl Chevrolet.
— Heard a report from high school principal Bryan Jurrens, as well as several high school teachers and students regarding the CCHS 2020 vision.
— Heard a presentation from Fisher and April Hanson, Technology Director, regarding healthy campus metrics.
— Approved the school district’s five-year facilities plan, as it was presented on Oct. 12.