FCPS plans for normal operations in the fall
May 13—Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Terry Alban indicated Wednesday that the school system plans to return to normal operations for the 2021-2022 school year.
The goal is to have students return five days a week with no social distancing, Alban told Frederick County Board of Education members during their meeting.
"Right now, we don't see anything that would keep us from being able to doing normal operations starting Aug. 18 ... our first day of school," she said.
Specific plans will be developed over the summer as guidance from health officials continues to be updated, vaccination efforts proceed and the state lifts COVID-19 restrictions.
One thing that won't change, however, is families will have an option. Alban said the school system plans to offer virtual school for any students who want it. Plans for a more permanent model of virtual learning have been submitted to the state for approval, and preliminary surveys have been sent to families to gauge interest in the option for next school year. As of now, FCPS expects about 4,000 students will choose virtual schooling.
"For many of our students, [virtual school] became a format where they really could thrive, and families embraced that virtual learning opportunity, and so we feel ... it was something we want to continue," Alban said.
The superintendent stressed that virtual schooling for next year will not be similar to hybrid learning.
"It's not going to be concurrent teaching. ... We know that concurrent teaching is an incredible cognitive load for teachers — it's incredibly challenging, and we know it can be difficult to maintain engagement with both students face-to-face and students virtually," Alban said. "So when we are saying to families you will have a virtual option, we're talking about purely virtual. Your child will be in a class engaging in virtual instruction with a group of students who are all engaging virtually with a teacher who will be teaching virtually."
To help facilitate the new form of schooling, FCPS has been advertising virtual-only positions and plans to interview people to serve as co-principals who will help coordinate online learning.
Board member David Bass, after hearing about the virtual schooling plans, expressed concern that this would lead to increased social isolation for the students who choose the virtual option.
Alban said staff members have shared similar concerns.
"Some of the concerns have been, 'Would a family or student choose that option for the right reasons?' ... So we would definitely want to monitor and have criteria," Alban said. "The way we're setting this up is there's still an affiliation with your home school, so you can still participate in extracurricular activities. ... So maybe you're choosing virtual because that gives you flexibility, but you still want to be able to go play sports at your local high school."
For students who return to school in person in the fall, FCPS is working on detailed plans to present to board members in June. Mask mandates and social distancing requirements are yet to be determined.
Alban said one of the biggest challenges in planning will be how to handle quarantining requirements if students get sick with the virus or are exposed to it.
Alban said screening test protocols are being piloted in other school districts. That could be a helpful resource in managing quarantines in the fall, she said.
The board did not vote on any changes Wednesday related to school reopening, but board member Liz Barrett once again indicated her desire to bring back more middle and high school students for in-person instruction four days a week before the end of this school year.
"The more kids we can have finish up and get to know kids that they may not have met throughout the school year, get to know teachers, get to know their way around the school, I think the better," Barrett said. " ... I just think we need to keep moving forward and not say we're done for the year."
Board member Brad Young agreed with Barrett and said the board should sit down immediately with the employee unions and begin discussing that possibility.
Alban and FCPS staff will present detailed summer school plans to the board at its May 26 meeting.
It was also announced Wednesday that all high schools will hold an opportunity for seniors to come together and socialize with friends and teachers on campus after their scheduled graduation practices. Details about each school's plans will be communicated directly with students and families.
Follow Katryna Perera on Twitter: @katrynajill
