Spencer to double in-person time for senior/middle school

Spencer high school and middle school students will return to in-person classes four days per week beginning on March 1 as the district takes “the next logical step” in getting as close to normal as possible during the COVID- 19 pandemic.

After listening to concerns of about two dozen parents on Feb. 17, the district Board of Education voted to make the change in the middle-senior high schedule but continue to have elementary students coming in four days per week. Wednesdays will continue as virtual education days for all students to allow teachers to work with those students who have opted not to attend school at all this year due to COVID-19 concerns.

Since the start of the school year, Spencer middle and senior high students have been attending two days of in-person instruction per week, and have been separated into two cohort groups to minimize contact with others. That, administrators say, has allowed the district to avoid any closures due to COVID-19 spread and has also minimized the number of students who have had to be quarantined for close contact with someone who has been ill.

Now, though, some parents told the Board at a meeting in the LuCille Tack Center for the Arts, it’s time to bring older students back as close as possible to full time. The students are missing face-to-face time with teachers as well as friends, they said, and that is harming them academically and socially. Other parents said the district may be hurting itself in the long run as families may send their kids instead to districts that have been having full-time in-person instruction. District Administrator Mike Endreas said the district has been following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines since the school year started. Those recommendations — which include face masks, 6-foot social distancing, hand-washing, etc. — have worked to help control the spread of COVID-19 in the school and have limited student absences.

“All along what we’ve been doing … we’ve followed the CDC guidelines to a T,” Endreas said. “That’s kind of what we’ve hung our hats on.”

Board Vice President Jim Krasselt said that made sense early in the school year, but is not as crucial now that COVID-19 case numbers have fallen, especially locally. Krasselt said the district “erred on the side of caution” to start the year, but can move ahead now.

“I think we did the right thing, but now I think the opportunity to take a step forward is the right thing,” Krasselt said.

While some parents are asking for a 5-day return to school, Krasselt said it is “the next logical step” to increase from two days to four. Keeping Wednesdays as a virtual day, said high school principal Jason Gorst, is important as the school also has to account for the needs of several families that have chosen not to send their kids to school any days. Some of those students have been coming in to the building on Wednesdays when others are not there to meet personally with teachers.

“It has been huge,” Gorst said of the Wednesday time.

Gorst also noted that social distancing may be a prob-

“I think we did the right thing, but now I think the opportunity to take a step forward is the right thing,” -- Spencer Board of Education member Jim Krasselt lem if all students return full time. He said the staff has measured all the rooms and matched them to classes, and it would not be possible to maintain 6-foot social distancing approximately 24 percent of the time. An option, he said, would be to send some students from large classes to “overflow” rooms so proper distancing can be maintained.

Board member Jordan Buss said the district should explore that option to transition toward 5-day per week in-person teaching.

“I don’t know that we can go against CDC guidelines in the high school right now, but I think we should increase to the maximum level that we can in every class,” Buss said. “I know that’s a scheduling nightmare, but so be it.”

Board member Shawn Lyon advocated for a full 5-day return for middle and high school students. She said they are losing more from staying home than they would be risking by attending classes. She said those who recommend virtual education “don’t take into account the mental, social and physical safety of our kids.”

“At what point is it too much of a risk to keep our kids away than bringing them to school?” Lyon said.

Board member Kasandra Justman said a return to 4-day per week instruction is a sound compromise, and maintains the needed Wednesday time for those who need it, “instead of just ripping off the Band-Aid and it’s a free-for-all.”

Gorst said his recommendation for now would be to stay with the 2-day per week face-to-face instruction, because social distancing guidelines may not be met with all middle/senior high students in the school at one time.

“That’s really what this discussion comes down to is our ability to keep kids six feet apart,” Gorst said. “I can’t in good conscience say we should go away from CDC guidelines at this point.”

Gorst also said a survey of staff members shows support for the status quo.

“We have a significant amount of people that want to keep the current model,” Gorst said.

Endreas said the district may see increased issues of required quarantining of students and/or staff if face-to-face time is increased.

“It’s the level of risk you’re willing to take,” he said. “Are we prepared to quarantine more kids? That’s the level of risk that we’d have to be willing to take.”

Senior/middle school instrumental music teacher Randy Veale said it’s not a case of staff members favoring virtual learning methods, in fact, it’s the opposite. However, he said more contact between students could lead to more COVID-19 spread.

“All our hearts are with the kids, we want these kids here five days a week,” Veale said. “My head says we’re going to end up having less time with the kids because there will be quarantines.”

Senior/middle school agriculture teacher Mark Zimmerman said Spencer’s virtual education system has been the envy of the area since the beginning of COVID-19 last March, but it’s time to move ahead.

“I think last spring we did it better than any of our neighbors. I think it’s also time for us to be a little brave,” Zimmerman said. “We have a lot of excitement in this district about a lot of stuff and we can’t let a lack of bravery kill it. We have to be brave and we have to be smart. I think it’s time we have to move in that brave and smart direction.”

Several parents mentioned that neighboring districts such as Loyal and Marshfield Columbus have had 5-day per week face-to-face instruction with few COVID-19 problems.

With Spencer reporting recently that its student enrollment had fallen more than expected this fall, parent Doug Bacon said the district may be harming itself financially by driving families away.

“If we don’t go back more days a week, are you going to be able to figure out what that’s going to do to you financially?” Bacon said. “It can’t be the driving factor, but it definitely has to play a role ... I know parents that will bring their kids back if we open it up more.”

Parent Ben Rucker said the district needs to understand that efforts to keep kids six feet apart and wearing masks at all times are futile when they are socializing without those safeguards when not in school.

“What you guys are talking about is a complete fallacy that these kids go home and they’re social distancing,” Rucker said.

Rucker said Spencer’s virtual learning model is “robbing these kids of their high school.”

“I’m not robbing my kids of school. I’ll take them to a school that’s having school,” he said.

Parent Janelle Rucker quoted a statement from the Spencer school website about the district’s commitment to the best education possible.

“How are we doing that by keeping these kids home?” she said.