It's about educating kids

Alexis Barkers
NLJ News Editor
 
“For me, it is not a political thing. This is about educating the kids,” said Brad LaCroix, superintendent of Weston County School District No. 1. 
The future of public education across the country has been up in the air since March, when schools across Wyoming and the nation closed their doors and sent kids home, unsure of what would come next. After several months, the answers have slowly started coming in and parents, at least in Wyoming, are getting closer to sending their kids back to school. 
To ensure that students are able to pick up on-site learning again in Newcastle’s three schools, LaCroix said, it is crucial for parents and district staff to communicate and work together. He stressed that patience and flexibility are going to be needed. 
In July, the Wyoming Department of Education released the Smart Start Guide for reopening schools. School districts were required to submit their plans for the 2020-21 school year by Aug. 3. LaCroix and the district’s staff have been working together to come up with plans for each of the three tiers that are part of the state’s guide to opening the schools.
With the plans developed, minus approval of Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, students, parents and staff were asked to respond to a survey asking which plan they preferred. Those results, LaCroix said, were what he expected and heavily favored the Tier I plan, or in-person learning for the majority of students in the district. 
“We’ve put out a few surveys, and most of what I see is between 90 and 94% of the people wanting face to face learning,” LaCroix said. “It is safe to assume that the younger grades are more critical because of the developing relationships and because a lot of the older kids have more technology and communication skills.” 
According to the survey results, 417 of the 562 respondents favor the Tier I plan with on-campus learning. Some 104 of the respondents favor the Tier II plan, or a hybrid of both virtual and on-site learning, while 41 favor the Tier III option, which is keeping schools in the district closed. 
“As of right now, we will begin the Tier I plan next week,” LaCroix said. “The situation will be something we continue to watch throughout the community. There is going to have to be flexibility, but the main intent is to do as much as we possibly can until we are told differently.”
Opening date for schools is Aug. 26. LaCroix said that masks will only be used when needed and that different areas or staff members may have different preferences. 
“What we need to understand is that there are two sides to this story. There are some of us that might not be concerned and the other side is wondering why,” LaCroix said. “We need to understand that everyone will have different reasons, and whether it is a student or staff, we need to try and work through those. Sometimes there are health issues that need
(to be) addressed, either student or staff, and it comes back to respecting people because we don’t know everyone’s situation.”
According to LaCroix, mandatory mask requirements will only apply to activity buses. However, he said he also anticipates possible issues in hallways, on buses before and after school and in restrooms. 
As the school year creeps closer, LaCroix said, no teachers have come forward and said that they would not be returning to school if Tier I was implemented. The district has seen an uptick in homeschool recognition, he said. 
“At our last board meeting, we had close to 20 requests for homeschool recognition,” LaCroix said, adding that this is an increase from previous years. 
According to parent Kim Washburn, making the decision to homeschool wasn’t necessarily an easy one but was something her family ultimately decided to do. 
“Based on current information and so many uncertainties about the school year, we felt homeschooling was a better fit for our family due to current restrictions,” she said. “When distance learning was put out last year, our child did well with one-on-one learning.” 
Washburn explained that she feels that homeschooling will provide the best learning environment for her child and eliminate any concerns over her daughter being forced to wear a mask while at school. LaCroix said, however, that he cannot see any reason why a student would have to wear a mask the whole day. 
“We don’t feel like 6-foot distancing can be maintained much of the day, due to class sizes and teachers helping students,” Washburn said. “Based upon the projections from  the state governor and department of health, we are concerned that our child would be restricted to her desk, wearing a mask when 6-foot distance can’t be maintained and not able to socialize during music and lunch as she was in previous years.” 
Similar to the survey results, the majority of the parents that responded to questions from the News Letter Journal said that they were ready to send their children back to school and that on-site education is necessary. 
“Personally, I am ready to get back into a routine that bears some resemblance to normalcy; I’m sure this is a widely shared sentiment,” said Michael Alexander, Newcastle High School teacher, parent and Newcastle city council member. “I plan on continuing to follow and encourage the guidelines being espoused by health experts as I move through the school year, but with the recognition that it’s not an ideal situation and that not everyone is going to be as vigilant as I would hope. Understanding and kindness are very important here.” 
Allison Farella, also a parent, told the News Letter Journal that she supports moving forward with on-site learning because it is what is best for the education of all students. 
“Teachers are properly trained to teach every style of student. It would be a huge disservice for the children that need the extra instruction to do solely virtual school; however, I do feel like parents are going to have to be extra vigilant in making sure they keep students home if they are sick. I have no problem with my kids wearing masks if that’s what needs to happen so they can safely attend school,” Farella said. 
Misty Harrington, another parent, said she supports the Tier I plan but does not think masks should be part of the equation. 
“I know some people think masks need to be required, but honestly I do not think our kids need another distraction. As an adult, I have a hard time not messing with them when I’ve had to wear them, so I can’t expect my children to go all day with it,” Harrington said. 
What is evident, LaCroix said, is that there are always going to be two sides to the COVID-19 pandemic and that people are going to need to continue to be understanding and flexible. 
“Flexibility is crucial and we are all going to need to communicate. We need to know if there is something different we need to do. If anyone has suggestions on how to do things different, we are all ears. This is a new thing for all of us,” LaCroix said. “I’ve been in education here for 27 years, and we have never started a year like this. We have to be patient and have empathy for the other side of the story.” 
Parents can find the state’s Smart Start Guide online at edu.wyoming.gov/educators/covid-19-resources/. Click on “Smart Start Guidance document.”