This weekend, school board and staff attended a virtual meeting to determine the date to resume in-person learning. Most of the discussion focused on logistics. School will be resuming Wednesday (November 4th) when a majority of the staff are no longer required to quarantine. Details of the school’s Health and Safety plan can be found on the school’s website.
Staff and school board were in full agreement that the best thing for the students is to have classes in person, and to reach that point as quickly as possible. Children benefit from routine and consistency, both of which are difficult to maintain with distance learning. While distance learning provides some semblance of the usual daily routine in the form of homework, studying, and interaction, it is a poor substitute.
The meeting was upbeat and collaborative. School board and staff were united in the objective of getting kids back in the school, and talk swiftly turned from “How do we make this work?” to “How soon can we make this work?” and “What will it take to do it sooner?” Wednesday (November 4th) was the compromise between an urgent desire to get students and staff back into the school and the logistical challenges of scheduling and staffing.
It’s a rare meeting that is full of positive questions. It is very easy to find reasons not to do things, reasons that things cannot work. It is a rare person who can ask “What will it take to get this done?” and “How can we make this work?”. It was a pleasure to witness a meeting characterized by that approach.
Trego's Mountain Ear 