Survey says: Parents want in-person school

The results showed 73 percent want to come back, while 27 percent plan to stay with remote learning, which would remain an option.

While the school board hoped to start in-person school by late September, a final decision will be made at the school board meeting Monday night on whether to reopen schools, and if so, what the start date will be.

While the majority of parents are eager for in-person school to resume, it will look far from normal, cautioned Superintendent Bill Nolte.

Even for those choosing in-person school, students won’t be going every day. They will still be home half the time — tracking in and out on alternating schedules to keep class size down per state mandates.

“We are embarking on something that really hasn’t been done before,” Nolte said. “When we go to in-person, we are going to do as good a job as any school system in North Carolina. I think the bad news is it is not going to be neat and clean.”

School board members dove into the details of what in-person school would look like, as well as the possible pitfalls that must be planned for, during a lengthy work session Thursday night.

Once the survey numbers are crunched, teachers will be divided between two cohorts of students: with one set of teachers assigned to in-person students and another set assigned to remote-only students.

The challenge is making those numbers come out right. After parceling up in-person students with teachers, will there be enough left in every single grade and subject at every single school to handle the remote cohort?

For example, if there are only 10 fifth graders at Jonathan Valley doing remote, it’s not enough to comprise a full class — and the school system only has so many teachers to go around.

“If they are a smaller school they may not have the resources. They may need to piggy back with another school,” said Associate Superintendent of Instruction Jill Barker.

If Riverbend also had 10 remote fifth graders, they could join forces to make a combined fifth-grade class with students from both schools.

“Because of that complexity, it will not be one size fits all,” Nolte said. “It could vary from site to site.”

Ranked among the top school systems in the state, teachers and staff have proved their mettle by adapting to the COVID curve ball as well as could be expected, and will no doubt do so again, Nolte said.

“Our people have flat gotten after it,” Nolte said. “They have done one heck of a good job. They are really good at traditional instruction and they have gotten really good at remote, and now we are asking them to do something new again. We have to make sure it is manageable for teachers.”

School board members praised teachers and all school staff for soldiering on through the trying environment.

“They are really doing work they didn’t sign up for at this point. They are having to work very hard and very long hours,” School Board Member Bobby Rogers said.

Making a choice

Pulling off the survey was a huge undertaking. The survey is 92 percent complete, accounting for 6,237 students. Teachers are continuing to reach out to the remaining families that haven’t answered yet.

“Thanks to everyone for getting out there and beating the pavement to get as accurate as numbers as possible,” said Assistant Superintendent Jill Barker.

While some school systems around the state won’t allow families to change mid-stream — they are locked in once they choose either remote or in-person — Haywood County Schools hopes to be flexible within reason.

“Yes, we want some kind of commitment, but we also know family situations change,” Barker said. “They need to choose, but there may be times when they say ‘This isn’t working out for me.’ It is a very personal decision.”

Barker said not being there for students in-person has been heartbreaking for teachers.

“It’s been hard. Our teachers are taking it very seriously, and it’s rough,” Barker said. “They didn’t sign up to sit in front of the computer. People who teach sign up because they love children. They want to see them every day.”

Wild card

Nolte said the biggest concern he has with the return to school is not what happens at school itself, but the inevitable staffing hiccups caused if a teacher becomes a close contact of a COVID case outside school and must stay home while awaiting testing.

“There’s a lot we can control on campus, but it’s what’s happening off campus in terms of close contacts that’s the big unknown. That’s the one thing I worry about — and it’s the one thing we can’t control,” Nolte said.

Some school systems that already went back in-person have had to close temporarily — but not because of an outbreak at the school itself. They were simply down too many staff due to quarantining.

“It’s the quarantine that is going to be a problem, and it can happen in an instant,” said Jason Heinz, school human resource director. “I had four today just after lunch. They are necessary, but they can cause a serious problem.”

Less than half the substitute teachers on the school system’s sub list are willing to substitute right now, Heinz said.

Only 75 subs are up for it.

“I’m a little nervous about that. On any given week, we can use 60 subs easily,” Heinz said. “The subs we have are great subs, but I am not sure 75 would do it. You also have to take into account at any given time how many subs might be quarantined, or who may decide it’s not with the risk at any given time.”

Plus, some subs plan to limit the number of campuses they’ll come to.

The school board will vote at its meeting Monday night on whether and when to resume the in-person hybrid learning.

“It is a big decision. It is very clear our community wants to go to school,” Nolte said. “But there is a pandemic and there are things outside of our control.”