By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
The current schedule for students in Piedmont Public Schools, including the seventh through 12th grades students who attend fewer days each week, will stay the same for another month.
Meanwhile, teachers told school board members this week the virtual and in-person workload is difficult without a day of the week for planning without students.
Seventh through 12th grade students attend two or three days a week in groups A and B by last name. Groups alternate weeks attending two days one week and then three days the next week.
School board members who met Monday, Oct. 12, did not support taking a day away from in-person learning for teachers’ planning days.
Teachers at the meeting said many feel they are “drowning” in the amount of virtual and in-person lessons and need one day a week for planning.
School Board President Jerrod Moser said the current attendance plan could always be changed and an emergency meeting could be called in two weeks if someone has a better solution during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district enrollment has started to pick up again after being down at the start of the semester, except at the high school, where enrollment is slightly down from last year, Superintendent Dr. James White said.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the district are down from last week and many students who had previously been quarantined have returned in classrooms. Students in pre-Kindergarten to sixth grade are currently attending five days a week. Masks are required.
“Nurses, office staff, I can’t say enough about how hard they are working, to keep us on track and keep us in school” White said at the Monday night meeting. “They are doing a great job. Our kids are doing a great job while they are in school. Our teachers are keeping them separated.”
White said students are being exposed outside of school.
“We have a lot of quarantines due to parents testing positive or relatives testing positive.”
A number of junior varsity and ninth grade volleyball teams were quarantined Friday, Oct. 9, he said.
“They possibly come to school when they don’t need to be here and are getting more kids exposed.”
White said the number of reported cases increased after the Labor Day weekend, and he expects the same will happen after fall break, which starts Thursday, Oct. 16.
Exposures at school have happened in sports and with students riding together in vehicles, but have not been as much of a problem in seventh through 12th grade classrooms because of distancing with fewer students in classes on the reduced in-person schedule.
An algebra teacher who spoke at the Monday night meeting said there are difficulties using ZOOM in the classroom for virtual students at home while teaching in-person.
“We are doing all we can to make this successful. We’re not seeing any light, at all. We thought we would catch up and get in a routine. It’s become obvious that’s not realistic.
You get to testing time and your are making a virtual test and a regular test and a modified test and then you’ve got the retest. So at times I’m just trying to make a simple assessment, I’m making eight different tests and giving them out in different ways. So it has become a struggle for us,” the teacher said.
Teachers said the internet went down Monday for most of the day and “we are playing catch-up every time the internet goes out.”
White said, “I think everybody had their own opinion on this. Right now I think what we are doing is working,” some of the issues we would solve could make that work with kids being home another day. It would help teachers planning but do we want to continue doing what we’ve been doing?” I can see both sides of that,” White said.
School Board President Moser said, “Those teachers who are downing let’s try to do everything we can to help them.”
White did not recommend giving teachers a planning day but he said he can see both sides of the issue.
“Obviously we have spent a lot of time over the last few months talking about the best case scenario for our kids and what puts them in the best place to continue their education the best they can. We’ve obviously come up with various options,” White said.
The attendance schedule plan was approved at a September meeting to last through fall break. The plan that was reinstated Monday for another month will be revisited at the November meeting unless a special meeting is called.
