H-D, CAL districts devise Return to Learn plans

As summer rolls on and the new school year approaches, Hampton-Dumont and CAL administration and staff are preparing for several Return to Learn scenarios depending on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.

H-D and CAL Superintendent, Todd Lettow, said that this summer a Return to Learn team at both districts has been analyzing methods for both in-person and remote learning for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Let-tow said a plan must be in place to allow students to safely and effectively learn within the school walls. The team is also working on an effective plan to provide online or remote learning should the need arise.

“We’ve been getting together and thinking about these scenarios,” he said. “The State of Iowa has required all schools to submit a plan, so we basically have a plan for on-site learning, distance learning, or a hybrid of the two.

“We also have to be able to move fluidly between these scenarios as situations arise. It has really caused us to think differently in so many ways,” he added.

In August, the plan at H-D and CAL is to return to on-site, traditional learning. The Return to Learn plan, however, contains five proposed stages of instruction to best accommodate for the health and safety of students and staff. The first two stages call for on-site learning with varying degrees of safety precautions, while the third outlines the procedures of what would happen should a certain area of the school be known to have had an exposure to the novel coronavirus. Stage four details a limited capacity model, which will only be used should the state move forward with such a requirement. The fifth stage is for distance learning throughout the districts.

Should a distance learning model be necessary, a template has been designed for all levels of learning that addresses the development of lesson plans, adequately measures attendance, and determines which subject content is the most important. It also contains opportunities for teacher development and collaboration.

Lettow said that while the situation is not ideal, it has forced the district staff to challenge themself to adapt to the changes, and has, in turn, led to discoveries that will facilitate more effective learning.

“I think we’re going to be better coming out of this in terms of providing different ways of educating kids; different ways of looking at things,” he said. “If you have more ways to present material, you’re going to catch more kids, because not every student learns in the same way.”

“We want to be innovative, but sometimes you get settled in that comfort zone, and this has really forced us to innovate,” added Jen Koenen, Curriculum Director for both districts.

The Return to Learn plan also states that a health and safety committee composed of district and community members will be implemented to observe the local COVID-19 situation and determine whether or not a move to a different stage of instruction would be necessary.

Based on current and anticipated regulations, the plan has detailed health and safety procedures, regardless of the phase that is determined. The district will aim to limit the size of groups and maintain social distancing. This will require a move away from assemblies, large group lunch, and breakfast and staff meetings.

All who enter the school will be screened for temperatures and symptoms. Face coverings will be encouraged, and cloth masks have been ordered for students should they need one. PPE will also be provided for staff members throughout the year, especially to those in the nutrition and other at-risk departments. Lettow said the amount of PPE used throughout the schools will be based on numbers and advice given from public health officials.

“We need to be ready for every scenario. The precautions and PPE will be in place and available, so if we have to move into more restrictions, we can do that on a minute’s notice almost,” he said. “The reason we have these precautions and restrictions is that if we have someone who has been exposed, someone who has tested positive, hopefully we have really tried to limit the exposure inside the building to the point where we can isolate that.”

Each building will have a required traffic flow plan as well.

Koenen said that the Re-turn to Learn plan has a heavy focus on health and safety because of how frequently the situation can and has changed. By developing several scenarios, Koenen said the district can be ready for almost any situation and can adapt when needed.

“Health and safety was the most important part of this for everyone - staff and students,” she said. “We focused our thinking to believe that on-site was always going to be our default and then be ready to move into those different stages.”

Lettow said that the required changes to the operation of school, coupled with already major changes and cancellations in students’ lives, can create stress and anxiety for students. Therefore, along with the adjusted curriculum and operations, Lettow said there will be a focus on the schools’ current social and emotional learning, which trained teachers to look for barriers outside of the classroom that may prevent a student from reaching his or her highest learning potential. He said given that the pandemic has created trauma in many students, and that effects for the trauma will likely carry over into the next school year, teachers will have added responsibility to identify and address issues that may cause a student to not succeed.

“I truly believe that, at least in the short term, it will never be exactly like it was before,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed with the way people have dug in and said they want to do what’s best for kids.”

For more information, the full Return to Learn plan can be viewed on the districts’ websites at hdcsd.org or cal.k12.ia.us.