A series of rumors circulating around social media came to Watershed Voice’s attention over the weekend. Most of said rumors have to do with when and how Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) will use teachers or other, third-party service providers to deliver virtual, online instruction programs for students. In the interest of confirming what decisions are actually under discussion at TRCS, Watershed Voice reached out to School Board President Erin Nowak and TRCS Superintendent Ron Moag for clarification.
Both Nowak and Moag confirmed a third-party option is on the table. “I know it was tossed around because of the quick turnaround times that our Three Rivers teachers would need to put a full, virtual program together on top of teaching regular classes,” Nowak said.
According to Nowak, the issue at hand is one of capacity. “We have to facilitate and coordinate an entire curriculum,” she said. “My understanding is to run a full virtual program would require us to hire additional staff.”
Nowak also confirmed any such third parties “would not be replacing any of our Three Rivers teachers, because our teachers would still be needed to do the in-classroom instruction.” The various options for resuming instruction follow the rules for possible pandemic phases as directed by the Governor’s office. Each option would utilize the teaching staff differently, but Nowak said, “none of them will be expected to lose their position.”
Moag emphasized details are still being worked out but provided further detail on the decision process and how each phase might look. “We, as superintendents, encouraged directly by Dr. Mike Rice, the state superintendent, we’re going to need to have options for parents as we move through this new learning environment based on COVID-19. A 100 percent virtual, online option was always talked about,” he said.
Michigan’s pandemic phases are ranked numerically, with the lowest-numbered phases bearing the most stringent restrictions. “If we’re in Phases I, II, or III in the Michigan Safe Start plan that Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer put out, we’re going to be all virtual, and our teachers will be teaching that,” Moag said. Under the current Phase IV, the plan is to start pre-K to fifth grade with face-to-face instruction, and with middle and high schoolers attending two days a week and with virtual instruction taking place three days a week, also taught by TRCS teachers.
A completely virtual, online option will also be available. That option, Moag said, is the one that will make use of a third party. “That virtual, 100 percent learning will be taught by a certified teacher, but it will not be a Three Rivers Community Schools teacher,” he said.
“The virtual option is for parents who just want 100 percent, it doesn’t matter what’s going on, what phase, they’re not comfortable sending their student back to school, so we will have a virtual, online learning platform that’s developmentally appropriate” based on grade level, Moag said.
The all-virtual option will be available to all K-12 grade levels. Moag said the option is a semester-long commitment. “A semester allows a kid to get through the learning and the transition for second semester, so if we say, maybe, we’re fine, the vaccine has hit, the virus has flattened out that they want to come back, they feel comfortable, we’re going to make that transition (as the next) semester (begins).”
Moag clarified that no TRCS teachers would be replaced by third party service providers. “We know we need all hands-on deck.” TRCS teachers are currently being trained in online instruction in preparations for the various, phased options. “If we get moved to Phase III, we’re getting our teachers trained. We had three sessions in July and we have one in August, so that all teachers have had an opportunity to be trained in virtual instruction,” Moag said.
TRCS does use supplementary staff already, including during the shutdown this past spring. Moag said, “you had nobody in the building, but we had paraeducators who are from the instructional side, so they supported students instructionally (at the) elementary and secondary (levels), and so we redeployed them.” Paraeducators work to bolster the schools’ reading programs. “In elementary, that is a big focus, to make sure kids are on track for reading, and so we put a lot of time and resources into making sure that we’re paying attention to that very closely, and that’s nothing new. It’s been that way for now probably a good five or six years,” Moag said.
As students return to instruction, Moag said, there will be measures in place to evaluate a student’s preparedness. Social distancing, masking, cleaning, and other pandemic safety protocols are also under continued planning. As with online instruction, some of those measures are subject to capacity issues.
“Our big concern is all these safety protocols that have to go into place, you know, wiping down classrooms every two to three hours, and can students do it? We operate pretty thin in the custodial area, you know, all districts do. So, those are the other details we’re working through,” Moag said. Planning committees are discussing “Who’s going to do the work, and what is the level of disinfecting we need? Those (conversations) are out there, it’s just working through all that to make sure we have all the safety protocols in place as kids come back to school.”
Amidst those conversations, staff and administrators are also working out online instructional standards. Moag said, “we are required, this is from the Michigan Department of Education as well as the roadmap designed by the Governor’s office, if it’s truly Phase III virtual or remote learning, it has to be rigorous, there are (going to be) assessments.”
There are also bills under consideration in the Michigan Legislature that would add more detail and traction to remote learning requirements. Moag sits on a state superintendents’ subcommittee for government relations, which is discussing the bills, including “what recommendations we can make to legislatures about making changes because something isn’t practical. There is going to be something about us needing to assess kids, where they are at, coming back to school. I don’t know what that language is going to look like, but that is something that is going to be a requirement at every school district.”
Moag said staff representatives are playing a role in the planning process for reopening, since they are integral to the instructional process. “If you don’t have teachers and staff, what do you do with the students? We have a sub shortage in this state, you know, teachers aren’t growing on trees.”
Dave Vago is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
