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BUCKHANNON -- A plan to see half of Upshur County students attend school on two days and the other half attend on two different days staggered throughout the week was selected in a 3-2 vote by Upshur County Board of Education members Tuesday night.
Under the plan, labeled B in the options, students will be divided into Group A based on last names A-L and Group B based on last names M-Z. Group A will attend school in-person on Monday and Thursday with remote learning days on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Group B will attend school in-person on Tuesday and Friday with remote learning days Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The plan selected will be in place for the first nine weeks of school, and then the BOE will re-evaluate and decide how to proceed.
Dr. Jeff Harvey, director of safety and school security, said the decision on how to divide the students came after taking the number of students and dividing it in half which came out about in the latter part through the letter L based on last name.
There will be a waiver process for families with children who have different last names residing in the same household or who have childcare issues that would make attending on the opposite schedule better for them.
Harvey said with some exceptions on both sides the educators preferred the two-day staggered plan of Monday and Thursday and Tuesday and Friday for knowledge retention while families preferred plan A for childcare issues.
"That is because there is less time away from those kids to be able to help with retention of knowledge," he said. "Most of the time the parents that we heard from preferred the 2 on 2 model (Plan A) for mainly the reasons the families here have mentioned tonight."
Under Plan A, which did not pass, Group A would have attended Monday and Tuesday with remote learning days Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Group B would have attended school Thursday and Friday with remote learning days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Harvey said faculty and staff have asked if they would be able to bring their children into the school with them on the days they teach (remotely).
"We've indicated that we can work with them on that if there are no other options available to them," he said. "Understanding that this requires sacrifices on the part of everybody, we are trying to be as accommodating as possible to as many groups as possible."
Three parents spoke in favor of students attending five days a week and expressed their concerns with Plan A and Plan B.
Travis Radabaugh questioned the extra stress on bus drivers with double runs but also said that everything needed to be considered in-depth regarding safety and costs. He shared concerns about parents being able to facilitate remote learning.
Amanda and Tony Miller are the parents of five children and are both considered essential workers.
"We definitely want to see students back in school five days a week," Tony Miller said. "We understand for at least part of the time, there may be this divided schedule."
Amanda Miller said she was concerned about virtual learning for students and the ability to keep students on task at home.
Katie Loudin, vice president, pointed to the changing information on COVID-19.
"It's like a slow-moving tsunami of information that changes the decisions we have to make," she said. "It worries me when I look at Georgia and how they reopened the schools and they are starting to see these positive cases. I'm not so sure that the governor is not going to take us remote. None of us are. He said he would make that decision by Sept. 1."
Loudin said she felt the difference in Plan A and Plan B was a safety consideration versus a pedagogy consideration.
"Teachers want to see students twice a week staggered, it's better for retention and it's better for the relationship," she said. "I think if a teacher is exposed to a positive student on Monday, or a bus driver for that matter, they see the same kids Monday/Tuesday, by Wednesday or Thursday they could wake up feeling kind of lousy. We would have prevented half of that class from that impact. I think there is merit there, but is there enough merit there? Do we have contact tracing backfilled enough that we can stop that Thursday wave from coming in? I think these are all considerations.
"How do you teach beginning reading and beginning math concepts if you only see your kids Monday/Tuesday (in-person)?" she asked.
Harvey said Wednesdays will be a planning and deep cleaning day.
"The intention is to step up and enhance all of our cleaning efforts that are in our schools anyway," he said. "We have to be on our game with that."
Harvey said the testing situation that supports the contact tracing is challenging due to lags.
"We continue to work with local partners on what the testing capabilities are," he said.
Loudin asked about the bus runs because the attending five day a week plan had called for early bus runs and late bus runs with elementary students being released at 2 p.m. and secondary schools released at 3 p.m.
"If we do this model, then potentially our buses should be at half-capacity," she said. "One of the concerns I have heard from family members is my elementary kid will be home before my older kids who can watch them."
"I'm wondering if we need two bus runs on a half-capacity modified operation," she said. "I totally understood it when we were looking at the five day a week plan."
Loudin said that in-town buses may be more crowded but rural routes should have their capacity reduced.
Jodie Akers said the transportation department had been meeting with bus drivers, many of who work two jobs and expressed concerns over having two runs.
"We are listening," she said. "But we have also said our number one priority is getting those children to school safely."
Plans are still in the works but Akers said bus drivers are collaborating on how they can help each other with the runs to make sure those that need to get to their other jobs can do so.
"We are full," she said. "With a little over 1,000 [students] going virtual, that is definitely going to make an impact."
But Akers said social distancing would be "virtually impossible" on buses because there would need to be two seats between the students.
Board member Kristi Wilkerson said she heard from elementary teachers who preferred Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday but secondary teachers who preferred Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday.
"I don't have a clear direction on which way to go," she said. "From a safety standpoint, plan A might be a little more clear in my head that we can do it a little safer. I will reiterate there are no good options here."
Board member Pat Long said, "Remote learning - that's our best option."
The decision to have all remote learning would have to come from the governor.
Board president Dr. Tammy Samples said she would ask for votes on Plan A and Plan B.
Wilkerson moved to approve Plan A for the Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday but the motion died for lack of a second.
Board member Dr. Greenbrier Almond then moved to approve Plan B for the Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday in-person instruction, seconded by Loudin. The motion passed 3-2 with Almond, Loudin and Samples voting in favor. Wilkerson and Long voted no.