BURLINGTON, Iowa (KWQC) - The Burlington Community School District (BCSD) is starting the school year a week later than planned. An emergency meeting was held on Friday by the BCSD Board of Educators, where options for reopening school were discussed.
The board considered three options: to continue with the current plan to start on Monday, Aug. 24 on a hybrid A/B schedule, to apply for temporary permission to provide primarily continuous/remote learning, or to delay the start of school for one week. The board voted unanimously to delay the start of the school year to August 31, which is being met by mixed reaction from parents in the BCSD community.
Superintendent Patrick Coen said, “We were going to start today, however our COVID numbers shot up past 15 percent as the Governor’s established as that threshold so we chose to push the start of our school year a week. We’ll be going into June a bit but it’s the best thing to do and the right thing to do for our students and staff.”
The halls of the Edward Stone Middle School and schools around Burlington remained quiet Monday, serving as a reminder that the pandemic is forcing districts across the country to pivot in a moments notice.
”This [pivot] is our catchphrase for the year,” said Coen. “No matter what happens we’re ready to do the best we can for the children, the staff and the community that we serve regardless of what COVID throws at us,” he said.”
”I’m excited to get back to class. I’m disappointed we’re not going back this week but I’m also embracing an extra week of summer,” said Krystal Johnson Collett, a parent and para-educator with the district. She said, “I think the board has explored all of the options and they’ve given us the options of whether we send our kids back to school or keep them at home.” Johnson Collett said she is personally choosing to send her kids to school because of the socialization aspect.
“There’s a lot about this pandemic we can’t control, but we can control how we react to it,” said Johnson Collett.
Some parents expressed to TV6 that they prefer their children to remain on a fully remote learning plan as they approach the school year.
The return-to-learn plan in BCSD allows for parents and students to choose which options is most appropriate for them. It is not mandatory that students return in person in any capacity at this point, said Coen. “We’re not gonna dictate to somebody how they raise their child. We will help them raise that child any way that we can but we will not -- and I say it again -- we will not dictate how you raise your child,” he said.
“With the kids, we’re gonna have every kid that needs that extra help in school every day and we have that worked out. We also have the James Madison Education Center,” said Coen. The building was slated to be torn down in a year or two. The building has been reopened and parents who their child goes to school on ‘A,’ their child can be at James Madison on ‘B’ days.
“We have drop-in centers, the churches are gonna open up, we’re gonna do everything we can to educate the children the same amount of time that we are now knowing that some of them have chosen to be home and some could be come ill and have to stay home and quarantine,” said Coen.
“We also have teachers who have pre-existing health conditions. The proliferation of COVID-19 makes it more likely they it could be terminal for them or one of their loved ones in their home, so those are the teachers that are providing the online instruction,” Coen explained.
Even with multiple options for return-to-learn, parents of special needs students who spoke with TV6 said they intend to send their students back to school in person, citing the need for structure, among other reasons.
The delay in the school year has presented a challenge for several parents, who said their children with autism are having difficulty with the quick, unexpected changes.
Each of the parents TV6 spoke with, who has a child with special needs, expressed concern over what will happen if a spike in COVID-19 cases forces the district to go fully remote, a learning option they said is not possible for parents with children who require more individualized attention.
In July, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced rules that set the threshold in Iowa for online learning. The governor said she would allow exception to in-person classes, only if counties have a reported COVID-19 positivity rate of 15 to 20 percent over a two-week period, and if at least 10 percent of students are absent.
Amy Wertenberger has two kids in the district, including a son with autism. She said, “He wasn’t nervous to go back to school. He was excited and Friday we got that news that it had been delayed a week and he shut down.” Wertenberger said, “He was very contained inside of himself, not talking. Last night he gave me a hug and started tearing up because he wants school to start and wishes he was going tomorrow.”
“My biggest thing is he can’t take that constant pivot,” said Wertenberger.
“He was very much let down this spring, which came out in violent rage, which we had not seen for a couple of years out of him and I feel they need to put something in place where students with IEP’s in conjunction with talking to the parents each student needs to say, “hey, no matter if they go fully online or not these students still need in class instruction. They don’t get what they need virtually and they don’t have that structure and schedule and it’s not fair at all,‘” said Wertenberger.
Another parent, Jessica Donlan, who has three children in the district, including a nonverbal son with autism said, “My youngest who is autistic and in a special needs room. He needs to go to school. He needs the structure. He needs it but he also can’t tell us if he’s sick. He’s not verbal, he coughs all the time. He shows little symptoms of being sick all year, every year, just because he is special needs. I’m worried they’re gonna send him home all the time or not want him there. It’s hard to figure out what he’s going to be doing.”
“Their needs are getting overlooked. They were completely dismissed and let down. Their IEP’s not even close to met this Spring,” said Wertenberger.
Wertenberger said, “I think the district is facing a very large challenge. You’re never going to please everybody but giving us options is great overall. I think they’re handling it best they can to get things done as quickly as they can, but it’s daily changes you don’t know, and I feel for them in that struggle.”
Donlan said, “We tried in April and May with the learning. We had a lot of temper tantrums, a lot of him not being able to sit still. I can’t take care of a special needs kid for school work and also try with my other two,” citing concerns over the possibility the district could need to switch quickly to full remote learning if cases spike in the district.
Coen said there’s no one-size-fits-all plan, but that the district is doing everything in its power to keep students safe and follow guidelines set forth by public health officials as the school year awaits.
“I cannot stand here today and promise that they won’t [get sick] because that would be naive, wrong, and criminal of me to do that. I can’t guarantee that, but I can guarantee we’re doing everything we can,” said Coen.
Copyright 2020 KWQC. All rights reserved.
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