VEEDERSBURG — Administrators at Southeast Fountain Schools recently conducted a survey to better understand the views of students and their parents as the 2020-21 school year rapidly approaches.
The majority of students who took the survey, 644 in all, responded favorably to in-person instruction this fall, foregoing remote learning or alternating schedules.
“There was a very low number that actually said, ‘Nope. We’re not coming back, regardless,’” Superintendent Dan Foster said.
Foster highlighted the results of the survey June 15 during the district’s first in-person board meeting since March when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began forcing school closures.
The survey included questions surrounding options of how the school year should take shape and if masks, transportation or internet capabilities would be an issue for students and families.
“Most are saying, ‘It’s time to go back,’” Foster said. “The first option is to have school as normal with some guidelines and restrictions in place.”
Returning to Class
A total of 76 percent of students who completed the survey said they were in favor of returning to campus this fall, Foster reported.
“Some students are not represented, so that’s not a totally accurate number, but it gives us a pretty good idea that most people are saying ‘yes’ or are strongly considering returning,” he said.
Those who responded with “maybe” comprised 22 percent of survey results, while those saying they would not physically return to the classroom comprised less than one percent.
Mask Requirements
A question concerning the wearing of masks in the classroom was also posed for participants of the survey.
A total of 42 percent of participants said mask requirements may have an impact on their decision to return to school.
“A day or two after we sent this survey out, we kind of thought, ‘That question should have been more direct,’” Foster said. “But it was too late because we were already getting responses and I didn’t want to change the question at that point.
“With that one we take a little grain of salt.”
Remote Learning
The second option for the fall would be to bolster the district’s remote-learning potential by purchasing additional Chromebooks, chargers and cases so that a device would be available for every student to take home.
However, reliable internet in more rural parts of Fountain County make remote learning a challenge, whether or not the district purchases devices for each student.
“This is our problem,” Foster said.
Fifty-two percent of participants responded they have reliable internet capable of handling distance learning programs.
But only four percent replied that they have no internet connection at home.
“That’s a little better than I thought,” Foster said. “But when you combine hotspot issues, the internet was just too slow or they don’t have enough data on their (phone) plans to make it work for distance learning — that was 43 percent. So 47 percent are still struggling with internet in one way or another.”
Alternating Days
The third option for the fall would be to split the student body into groups that would attend on alternating schedules throughout the school day.
However, this is simply not an option, Foster said.
“If it came down to a hybrid-type model where we basically have to find a way to cut (half) of our kids out of school on a daily basis ... we cannot do that,” he explained. “Many of our drivers — some work in the cafeteria, some are instructional assistants — we can’t drive buses all day.”
But if alternating days were indeed necessary, 64 percent of participants said they would attend.
“Only 6.37 percent said they would not attend if that was the model that was desired,” Foster said.
And if transportation restrictions are put in place to limit the number of students on a bus — about 11 and 12 at a given time — the survey showed: Forty-two percent said they could bring their students; 23 percent said they already have their own transportation; and 33 percent said they cannot transport their students to school.
“So a third of our students would not be able to get here,” Foster said.
Administrative teams have met multiple times throughout the summer, he added, to create a “task force” or sorts that will focus on logistical needs for in-person instruction.
Administrators and others on the task force are hoping to formulate a plan which can be approved at the district’s next public board meeting July 16.
