Administrators want students back in classrooms full time

Two days after more than 100 parents attended a Port Washington-Saukville School Board meeting to protest the district’s blend of in-person and online learning, administrators were expected to recommend that students return to classrooms full time, Supt. Michael Weber said Wednesday morning.

Five-day-a-week in-person instruction  at the high school, middle school and elementary schools would begin at the start of the second semester on Jan. 25.

The recommendation comes on the heels of a heated meeting Monday during which parents told School Board members how its hybrid approach to teaching during the pandemic has failed their children, who are struggling academically and emotionally. (See related story: https://ozaukeepress.com/content/parents-infuriated-board%E2%80%99s-resp...) 

Most students are currently in classrooms only two days a week.

The board reviewed the results of a recent survey that shows 63% of parents favor a return to full-time, in-person instruction but angered parents by providing little indication if they wanted to make such a change. 

Instead, the board asked administrators to draft a recommendation, which it will consider at its Monday, Jan. 11, meeting.

According to the recommendation, parents would still have the option of having their children educated full-time online if parents do not want them in classrooms.

In addition, teachers would provide online live-streaming, or synchronous, instruction for students who are home sick or quarantined, Weber said. 

Since the beginning of the school year in September, high school and middle school students have been divided into two groups, with one group in classrooms on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other on Thursdays and Fridays to effectively cut the student population in half and allow for social distancing. Students are taught online when not in schools.

Elementary school students attend in-person classes four days a week.

Some parents who supported or tolerated the hybrid model at the beginning of the school year have criticized the board for being slow to transition to full-time, in-person instruction.