Alexandria Living Magazine
Fairfax County Public Schools officials are considering a variety of ways to reopen schools this August — and some of the education students receive could be virtual.
Protecting the health and safety of students, teachers and education staff is critical to ensuring continuity of education, even virtually. School districts across the country are struggling with how to do that.
Here in Virginia, a state-level COVID-19 Education Task Force is working on developing and issuing policy guidance to school districts. That guidance is expected sometime in June and will include information about the required conditions for reopening schools.
In the meantime, FCPS officials — with input from stakeholders including parents, teachers, staff and administrators — are working on three main possibilities for the 2020-2021 school year. (They are also working on considerations for graduation, Summer School, Extended School Year and other services.)
In an FCPS School Board work session report available here, school leaders noted that stakeholders advocated for strong communication plans and consistent expectations across the district, universal access to technology and internet service, and the consideration of policies to support staff with health or personal concerns that could prevent them from returning to work in person.
Fairfax County’s start to distance learning in March and April was rocky, with reports of Zoom-based video classes being virtually vandalized, significant issues with programs like BlackBoard and connectivity issues for staff and students.
School officials are working hard to ensure those issues are completely solved and the next school year starts smoothly for everyone, no matter how it starts.
Three Possibilities in Fairfax County
School leaders are considering three possibilities, with the caveat that any of these could be modified as local health conditions change in the coming weeks and months.
Scenario 1: Virtual Start — There is the chance that Virginia health officials determine it is not safe for students to return to school. In that case, Fairfax County officials would need to increase community partnerships to create safe remote learning for students to allow parents to return to work. This would also require significant technology investments. (The following slide and those below all come from the May 11 FCPS work session report available here.)
Scenario 2: Social Distancing — Some students may need to return to face-to-face education, and other students may be able to attend school on alternating days. In addition, schools may work to spread out students more by using alternative spaces such as cafeterias, hallways, libraries, outdoor spaces and even buses to enable physical distancing between students.
Scenario 3: Some Unable to Return — It may be possible, even with social distancing, that certain students or staff members cannot return to work in-person due to health concerns or personal challenges related to the spread of coronavirus. In that case, the school system will need to provide individual flexibility, connectivity and create new policies to allow for virtual work by choice.
The school system is also working to figure out how it will manage a transition if schools reopen with social distancing and then one, some or all schools suddenly have to close due to a spike in coronavirus cases.
There are budgetary considerations that come into play, as well, in all of these scenarios.
If schools reopen, FCPS will need to pay for increased school nurses to monitor student and staff health, more custodians and cleaning supplies, plus personal protective equipment. If physical distancing is required, transportation costs could go up, as buses could not transport as many students per trip. With virtual learning, FCPS will have to invest in devices and connectivity for students, as well as a re-evaluation of digital curriculum tools. School-based technology support will also increase, as will professional development for teachers.
More information will be available in the coming weeks.
