The Anchorage School District superintendent on Tuesday night announced a four-step plan to phase students back for in-person school in small groups at all levels — elementary, middle and high school — likely starting Jan. 19.
But superintendent Deena Bishop told the school board that the district is still working out some details of the plan, like finalizing mitigation plans at high schools. There has not been a firm date set or a decision made whether all students will still be online-only when school begins after the holiday on Jan. 4, although the plan the superintendent presented Tuesday included that approach.
The in-person phase-in plan would then begin after about two weeks, on Jan. 19, giving everyone who had traveled during the holidays time to complete a quarantine according to state travel rules, deputy superintendent Mark Stock told the school board.
In the first phase, elementary-age students who are struggling the most would go back to school in small groups during the mornings for tutoring sessions.
In the afternoon, all elementary students would log in at home for online classes.
“Those students who are struggling would get a double-dose of instruction,” Stock said.
In this phase, at the middle and high school level, small group tutoring and in-person instruction would also begin, limited to students who are struggling the most. Middle and high school students who are successfully handling online school would continue working from home.
“We could stay in this pattern of small group instruction for several weeks while we monitor COVID levels and mitigation strategies,” Stock said.
In phase two, which does not yet have a specific start date, pre-K through second grade and high-needs special education students through the sixth grade would return for 5 1/2 hours per day of in-person instruction, while third through sixth grade would continue with the small-group in-person morning sessions and afternoon online classes. Middle and high schools would continue with small group in-person tutoring and online classes.
In phase three, all elementary school students would return to in-person classes. Middle school and high school learning would remain online, except for the small in-person groups.
Bishop said that those small group sizes are fluid and depend on the needs of students.
The final phase brings all students back to schools for in-person instruction. That phase would not start until the fourth quarter of school, Bishop said when questioned by board member Alisha Hilde, although the timeline is not yet firm.
A sometimes tense discussion followed the superintendent’s announcement, with some school board members questioning why the district can’t get more teachers and students back into classrooms sooner and Bishop saying that at times, she has felt unsupported by the board as she tried to return students to schools safely.
School board member Dave Donley said that the district had already prepared to return its youngest students to classrooms in November, and that those students should return to full in-person instruction on or before Jan. 19.
”We need to get the little guys back into class. I think we should have done it on Nov. 16,” Donley said. “And I think we would have proven to do it the safe, responsible way and start to turn this ship around.”
Bishop said that the district is concerned with having the staffing available to care for its youngest students if they were to return to in-person classes immediately, due to quarantines. Still, other board members praised the superintendent’s plan for taking into consideration the many complex aspects of returning thousands of students to school amid the pandemic.
“We are ready. We can do this,” Bishop said. “If the board stands up, we are ready and willing to get this rolling.”
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