The elephant in the room has appeared.
Starting on November 18, students of the Tri-City United School District will begin distance learning.
“The numbers in the county have gone up extremely fast,” said Lonnie Seifert, of the need to move to a different learning model as a result of the increased number of COVID-19 health pandemic cases in the area. “It’s an indication, the way the numbers are going, that things are going up. Two communities in the county that are getting hit hardest right now are Montgomery and Le Center.”
Seifert, the Tri-City United School District Superintendent, said that he and TCU administrators have met multiple times last week and will again meet this week to further the discussion on a plan to move all learning to distance learning next week.
He said within the district there are currently six active cases and another 119 staff and students in quarantine because of their close contact exposure to others with the virus.
Monday alone, Nov. 9, Seifert said there were around eight teachers teaching via distance learning because they could not be in the building. And TCU activities director, Chad Johnson, was helping serve lunch in the high school because of the staff shortages in the food services department.
“We’re running into staff shortages,” he said. “It’s significant.”
The announcement was made during the regularly scheduled TCU school board meeting on Monday, November 9, with Seifert noting that an official announcement will be sent to students and families on Tuesday.
Seifert said the timeline to move into distance learning will begin later this week and be fully implemented next week.
Particularly, the last day of in-person learning for those in group “B” will be November 12, while the last day for those in group “A” will be November 13.
On November 16 and 17 there will be no school for students. These two days will be for staff planning days to make the transition into distance learning.
Then, on Wednesday, November 18 distance learning will begin.
This, Seifert said, will remain in place until at least January 15, with the return date being closely monitored and assessed as time goes on.
“This will get us past the Thanksgiving break, the winter break, and get us to the end of the quarter and semester,” he said, adding that this allows families something to plan for and expect, rather than continue to wonder if learning will be in-person or virtual and for how long.
Though most students will be learning via distance learning, some in-person instruction will continue to take place. In particular, in-person learning will continue for special services students, pre-K students and others as identified by administrators.
As well, child care will be provided first for Tier I families, then district employees, and finally family requests, as based on staffing availability.
TCU school board chair Marsha Franek said the decisions made have not been done so lightly and is grateful for the continued flexibility that everyone has shown.
“These aren’t easy decisions to be made and we’ll just move forward and hope to get these kids back in school as soon as we can,” she said.
Arts and athletics are expected to continue, as directed by the Minnesota State High School League.
TCU to go distance learning November 18
