A return like no other

It will be a return to school unlike any other for Henrico County Public Schools students Tuesday, as the system welcomes them back from afar – in a fully virtual mode for all students initially, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Such is the reality not just for Henrico students but for a majority of students nationwide, as school districts seek to strike a balance between education and safety.

In Henrico, the School Board’s decision to begin the year in a virtual mode for the first nine weeks (with limited in-person opportunities planned for certain students by next month) means there will be no first-day hugs from teachers or waves from parents at the bus stop, but rather a new routine of logging into class from the dining room, day care center or somewhere else.

For school system administrators, Tuesday brings to fruition months of planning for a more comprehensive virtual approach – one that they say will be much different from the virtual learning plans they rolled out on what they have called an emergency basis in the spring after schools closed when the pandemic began.

The new format has streamlined a number of platforms through the school system’s Schoology program and promises to deliver a school day as close to normal as possible, given the obvious abnormalities.

Elementary school students will begin their days at 8 a.m. and have between 2 and 3 hours of teacher-led learning through video streaming, along with 90 minutes or two hours of independent learning time.

Middle school and high school students will have four teacher-led periods each day – comprising roughly 4 or 5 hours – and another two hours of independent learning time, on average. Middle-schoolers will begin at 8:30 a.m. and high-schoolers at 9 a.m.

There’s a plethora of information available online both for parents and students on the Henrico Schools’ website, including child-specific information that’s available through Schoology and PowerSchool.

As the seemingly thorough virtual learning structure takes effect, though, answers to a few big questions remain unknown:

• How well will it work?

Parents nationally have expressed concerns about how effective virtual learning can be, particularly for younger students who are used to – and may require – in-person interactions to grasp concepts more effectively. The prospect of students sitting in front of computers for five or six hours every day has left some parents concerned, but HCPS officials have said a number of times that the Henrico school day won’t look quite like that.

Student schedules show a number of break times throughout the day and intentionally involve synchronous and asynchronous learning blocks, so that students can conduct their own work away from the screen during the school day.

The school system has attempted to distribute iPads, Chromebooks and laptops to every student in the system, and it’s provided hundreds of WiFi hotspots to families without internet service at home. Still, even last month school system officials were unsure whether they’d reached everyone.

In recent social media group discussions, Henrico parents have wondered aloud about the technology aspect of virtual learning, from laptop problems to concerns about disruptions from unmuted microphones, potential bullying via chat features and what happens if a student loses internet connection.

One parent in an online discussion said her would-be rising high school senior is applying to colleges early and considering community college courses, rather than a virtual senior year. Another parent in a different discussion moved her youngest child to private school, but not her older children who were in specialty programs. She expressed concern for her oldest daughter, who was upset she was missing senior year milestones.

• Will the new format widen the academic divide in Henrico?

As it became apparent that the new school year would involve some form of virtual learning, a number of learning “pod” concepts sprouted in Henrico and throughout the region. In one pod format, groups of several families have combined resources to hire a tutor or teacher to oversee and assist their students in a small group setting in person as they participate in the school system’s virtual day – and while the parents work.

In another format, families have withdrawn their students from the public school system altogether and hired a licensed teacher to teach them in small group settings while the parents work. Other parents have enrolled their students in private school. (It's unclear how many students have left the school system, though that number could be several thousand by the time school officials take their annual count in late September.)

But what about students whose families don’t have the resources for such supervised learning and who either must juggle work and student supervision from home, quit their jobs to be able to stay home with their students or leave their students alone to learn? Some observers fear that the students who are already at greater risk of poor outcomes because of household economic conditions or a lack of family resources will suffer even more during virtual learning and fall farther behind students whose families can afford the extra help.

Henrico County’s Board of Supervisors last month allocated $500,000 to help reduce the cost of full-day child care being provided in 13 Henrico schools by the YMCA, the Henrico Education Foundation and the Henrico Police Athletic League, in an attempt to provide affordable solutions – as low as $10 a week in some cases – for the families who need such care the most.

YMCA officials had not yet responded to a Citizen request for the number of Henrico students enrolled so far in its programs, which will be operating initially at 6 high schools.

The Henrico Education Foundation will have about 100 students at its programs on the first day of school and expects another 108 at its Wilder Middle School location by next week, according to HEF CEO Mike Taylor. Of those 200 or so, about 125 will be receiving partial or full financial assistance, he said.

Henrico PAL officials had been planning for as many as 180 students in total at PAL’s three locations – Dumbarton and Laburnum elementaries and Rolfe Middle – but as of late last week had only about 80 registered, according to Executive Director Kenny Ragland. The program is $100 per week.

All three groups will continue to accept students after school begins as long as they have space.

• How long will the virtual mode last?

Officials hope to bring small groups of students (including some exceptional education students, those with individualized educational programs and those who are early learners or English learners) back into school buildings for limited learning opportunities by early October. Those experiences could serve as a test run for introducing more students back into schools.

The child care programs being operated inside various schools in the county also may provide some direction, though school officials have been quick to point out the differences between having 100 students in small groups isolated together all day in a building, as opposed to having 500 or 1,500 students being bused to and from school and, in some cases, navigating from class to class once they arrive.

The School Board expects to receive a recommendation by Oct. 22 from its health advisory committee about a plan of action for the second nine weeks of school. That committee is using a number of metrics to evaluate the safety of returning, and school system officials are likely to continue leaning on feedback from teachers and other school employees, as well.

Henrico Health Director Danny Avula, who serves on the committee, told the Citizen last week that a decision about returning to in-person learning will require more than just statistics.

“What we saw with round 1 of school decisions is that the data only gets you so far,” Avula said. “So much of the decision making is listening well to where your teachers and staff are at, understanding where your parents are at.

“There’s not a scenario where we can create a zero-risk circumstance. For the next year or longer, we need to work towards hybridized options that optimize the the number of people who can and want to be at school in person but also allow the safer option for folks who want to be virtual.”

Some employees will work from school, others virtually

While teachers, counselors and some administrators can choose to work virtually or in-person, other Henrico County Schools employees must report to school buildings.

“Teachers and counselors all have the option to work from their classes or offices, or to work virtually from home if they so choose,” Henrico Schools spokesman Andy Jenks told the Citizen. The school system didn’t require teachers to pre-select one consistent location from which to teach, he said.

Administrators are a slightly different case.

“We are still allowing for flexible teleworking arrangements, though most building administrators will be in our schools once the school year begins,” Jenks said.

Custodians will be working their normal hours, Jenks said. School bus drivers will be used to fill various transportation needs, including delivering meals to bus stop locations countywide twice a week.

In an apparent late shift in plans, the school system is requiring all temporary employees to work from school facilities. That group includes interventionists, part-time instructional assistants and substitute teachers. Several employees in those roles have said in online discussion groups or told the Citizen directly that they originally had been told they could work from home, before that directive changed last week. The school system has not yet responded to a request for clarity from the Citizen.

Earlier, Jenks told the Citizen that substitutes “will provide services from a school building site so that support and access to technology/resources may be provided.”

Some substitutes and part-time instructional assistants have commented in online discussion groups that they are struggling to find childcare for their children in time for the start of the school year and that they feel they are being treated as expendable.