It looks like Fox C-6 School District students in kindergarten through second grade will get to start attending in-person classes four days a week a little earlier than expected.
Superintendent Nisha Patel told Board of Education members Oct. 20 that the district plans to expand in-class instruction from two days a week to four days a week for the youngest students on Nov. 5.
The district had previously announced that its youngest students would be offered classroom instruction four days a week beginning Nov. 9.
Currently, 77 percent of the district’s 10,981 students attend in-person classes two days a week and learn online from home the other three days. The other 23 percent of students learn entirely online at home.
“This date (Nov. 5) gives us two additional days for our students in November with in-person learning opportunities,” Patel said.
She said the district was able to move the start date up after learning how many parents plan to send their children to school for the expanded in-class instruction or keep them in the district’s Virtual Academy.
The district reported that 66 students are expected to transfer from the Virtual Academy to take part in the increased in-person instruction, and 12 students moved from attending class in-person to learn from home.
That means 1,978 students in kindergarten through second grade are expected to attend in-class instruction four days a week, and 273 students will continue to learn from home.
Based on those numbers, the district was able to assign teachers to either classroom instruction or online instruction through the Virtual Academy. Currently, teachers have to do both, which has been a challenge.
“It was important for us to continue to be able to best serve both our in-person and virtual families to the best of our abilities, and hence, we worked hard to separate the teaching responsibility especially at the younger age groups, which with the hard work of Dr. (Randy) Gilman, our assistant superintendent of elementary, and our elementary principals, this goal was accomplished,” Patel said.
Fox has assigned 104 teachers to provide in-person instruction and 15 teachers to provide virtual instruction.
Because of the limited number of teachers required to provide virtual instruction, 121 kindergarten through second-grade students will be taught by a teacher who is not from the school they normally attend.
For example, a kindergarten teacher from Fox Elementary School will teach 23 students virtually. That teacher’s student roster will include seven from Fox Elementary, eight from Clyde Hamrick Elementary and four from Meramec Height Elementary, the district reported.
Patel said district officials understand it can be difficult for students to adjust to a new teacher during the school year, but she believes the staff will be able to handle the transition.
“Relationships are key in student success, and when we have a teacher change, those need to be rebuilt, which takes time,” Patel said. “However, we know our teachers are outstanding when it comes to loving and caring for our children, and they will build the relationships quickly. In addition, the former teacher will also be there as a support as needed for the new teacher and former students.”
Fox began the 2020-2021 school year Aug. 27, with about half of the students who are enrolled in-person classes attending on Monday and Tuesday and the other half on Thursday and Friday, with those students learning from home the rest of the school week.
While the Fox district currently plans to have its youngest students begin four-day-a-week instruction on Nov. 5, Patel said if Jefferson County moves into the red level on the Jefferson County Health Department’s four-color COVID-19 warning system, the district would delay the change.
“We want our students back for more in-person learning, but we also want to make sure it's done in a safe and effective manner,” she said.
When the county, which has a population of about 225,000 people, has a rolling average of 25 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents per day, it is moved to the highest level on the system – the red level, which calls for more mitigation to curb the spread of the virus.
Since Oct. 7, the county has been in the orange level, the second highest level, which indicates widespread but controlled transmission of the virus.
Patel said with more students attending class together, the district will not be able to have students keep 6 feet of space between each other, like they have up to this point, since the number of students in classes has been about half the normal size.
So, when more students are in classroom, Fox will focus on other protocols to mitigate the transmission of the virus no matter where the county is on the warning system, Patel said.
For example, the district will focus on making sure students and staff continually wear mask throughout the day, frequently wash their hands and keep classrooms and other spaces in the school sanitized.
Patel also announced that Nov. 23 is the tentative date for Fox district students in third through fifth grade to begin attending classes four days a week.
“It will all depend on the community transmission,” Patel said. “If things go as planned for (kindergarten through second grade), our goal is definitely Nov. 23. However, one thing we have all learned with this pandemic is that change is definitely our constant.”
The district has not announced a date for when students in the middle schools and high schools may start attending in-person classes more frequently.
Patel said more details need to be worked out for older students since they frequently change classrooms through the course of a day. She also noted that secondary students have had more positive COVID-19 cases than younger students.
“The bigger challenge for secondary (students), in particular our high school, is that is where we are seeing the most quarantines and positive cases both in our district and in the community,” Patel said. “Therefore, we will need to be very diligent about following our mitigating factors when we bring all students back at all levels.”
