KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education approved the district’s plan to return to school remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The board approved the district’s Smart and Safe Start Plan by a 6 to 1 vote Thursday, Aug. 13. Board member Tandy Moore voted against the plan because of one option that utilizes the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency’s virtual program.
Students will begin the school year remotely Aug. 31.
“The three R’s that are keys to success this year will be relationship, routines and resilience,” Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri said.
Parents can choose a tiered plan that starts with remote-only learning and eventually switches to in-person classes or another option that is virtual for the entire school year.
The “physical, social and emotional and mental health” of students is the district’s top priority, Raichoudhuri said.
“We are responding to the safety concerns by starting the year fully remote,” Raichoudhuri said.
Prior to voting, the board heard from multiple parents with a variety of opinions ranging from praise for the remote-only start to concern about students not learning in the classroom with their peers.
The first option available to parents, a three-tiered model based on trimesters, calls for fully remote learning until Nov. 24.
After Thanksgiving, students would switch to a hybrid learning model with two days of in-person learning with social distancing and three days of virtual learning from home from Nov. 30 until March 12.
Raichoudhuri said the district will only move to in-person learning in November if it is safe to do so. The superintendent outlined safety protocols for in-person school including mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, enhanced cleaning and handwashing.
In the third trimester, students would switch to all in-person learning fives days a week from March 15 until the end of the school year.
If parents opt to keep their students in virtual-only learning for the entire school year, students can utilize virtual learning through either the school district or KRESA. The KPS Virtual Learning Path, or KVLP, consists of Calvert Learning for grades K-8 and GradPoint for grades 9-12.
Students also have the option of countywide virtual curriculum through KRESA. The Kalamazoo Virtual and Innovative Collaborative offers Lincoln Learning for grades K-5, and Michigan Virtual learning for grades 6-12 with a Kalamazoo County-based teacher who may not be with KPS.
Moore said utilizing the KRESA program is “outsourcing” students’ education. This option would be “detrimental to our teachers and our relationship with them,” Moore said.
The district created a chart to help parents choose which option is best for their children based on their learning styles.
Raichoudhuri said last month that the district’s “new and improved” online learning model won’t jeopardize students’ eligibility for The Kalamazoo Promise.
Kalamazoo joined several large urban school districts, including those in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Muskegon, that are are starting the year online-only. Districts across the state must approve a back-to-school plan by Aug. 15, after closing their doors in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kalamazoo’s virtual-only model aligns with the request of the district’s teachers union, which comprises of more than 800 teachers, therapists, librarians, instructional coaches, nurses and counselors. In a letter to district officials, teachers said they will only consider a return to in-person instruction when a consensus to safely reopen is reached.
RELATED: Kalamazoo schools can’t open safely, must be remote, teachers union says
“We want to respect our KPS families and staff by not asking them to risk their lives to reopen schools prematurely,” the union said.
Wednesday evening, the Portage Public Schools Board of Education approved a back-to-school plan that offered in-person learning for elementary school children. One board member, Joanne Willson, voted against the plan, citing concerns about social distancing and plans to not take students’ temperatures at school every day.
Portage teachers joined other unions in the county urging district leaders to avoid in-person learning because of the pandemic.
To help you navigate this complicated fall, we’re pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up.
Also on MLive:
Portage school board approves reopening plan with in-person learning option
Kalamazoo teacher unions demand schools remain online only, warn of ‘looming disaster’
Michigan school leaders in support of fall season say high school athletics are safer than college
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