Westfield: How To Improve On-Site Learning?

WESTFIELD, NJ — If a school district is open for on-site learning amid the coronavirus crisis — but one student is sitting alone in a classroom with a teacher teaching to the camera — does something have to change? What about schools that keep having to close, then open, then close again?

As various school districts struggle to make decisions amid the second wave of coronavirus in New Jersey, some are wondering how local school districts' methods of remote and hybrid learning can be fine-tuned in 2021.

One parent sent a letter to Westfield Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan just before winter break, complaining that her child is in a high school classroom surrounded by empty desks, as her teacher teachers on camera for the remote students.

The letter, in full:

Dr Dolan,
I'm writing to say how disappointed I am with the hybrid learning model at the high school, specifically the in-class experience, which is not like being in class at all.

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When in person, my children are regularly the only students in their classes (see picture from when there was only one student in cohort B in class and video of when my daughter was the only student in cohort A in class), not because other parents are concerned about COVID exposure (they tell me) but because the in-class experience is not conducive to learning. The students are in the classrooms:

• with headphones on watching the teacher on a computer screen with slower WiFi (After all this time, why doesn’t the district have technology that allows the students in class to participate normally and still allow the remote students to hear and participate? We know it exists because many public and private schools are using it.)
• with winter jackets, hats, and gloves on because all of the windows are open (What was all of the talk about HEPA filters if we need to leave the windows open?)
• with masks and fogged up glasses for those who wear glasses with no mask breaks
• with a substitute teacher very often (who sometimes leaves the "class" alone (see picture that includes the empty teacher desk)
• unable to talk to the few students who are there with them (One benefit of in-class learning is the camaraderie and socialization with the other students in the class - that is completely absent in this model).

The district was so concerned about protecting the students who chose remote learning that we have completely neglected the students who chose to go to school. The district’s in-class option is “in-class” in name only. The in-class option is actually just virtual learning that takes place in a cold and empty classroom while wearing a mask. Families who truly wanted in-person instruction for their children have voted with their feet and abandoned this option. The result is empty classrooms.

Not only is learning impacted but the mental health of the students is suffering. And a virtual calm room, widely touted in this week's newsletter from the counselors, is not the answer. It's time to come up with an improved in-class option that truly provides the benefits of in-person instruction."

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Districts remote for this week

Several Union County districts, including Westfield and Cranford are staying remote for a week or longer after winter break ends Monday, to protect students and staff from transmissions that may have occurred over the holidays. But some parents are frustrated that their schools have been remote for much of the first few months of school.

"They are all doing something different, which is why people are angry," wrote a parent on a Westfield discussion page on Facebook, referring to neighboring districts. "Scotch Plains kept their sports going; Westfield didn't. Westfield has been very successful with hybrid for the elementary and middle schools but not the high school and sports were shut down. ... Kids need to be in school. Virtual is not a long term solution. I'm just not sure what the best solution is."

Another parent commented that Scotch Plains was able to keep sports going because their schools stayed remote.

Earlier this year, parents of Westfield athletes complained about sports being canceled.

Administrators say they are doing the best they can. In Cranford, the superintendent reminded parents last week that they can switch among hybrid and remote models again in February, but noted that those choices may cause a change in the schedule.

In Westfield, Dr. Dolan issued a holiday letter before winter break, praising the school community's "strength, commitment, compassion, and resilience." She noted, "2020 brought unimaginable personal and professional challenges."

Meanwhile, the second wave of coronavirus is setting new records in New Jersey.

Just before Christmas, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that there were 111 fatalities among residents from Tuesday to Wednesday, the highest one-day toll since July. The state also marked a seven-month record-high in terms of total coronavirus hospitalizations, with 3,841 new hospitalizations (3,612 who had tested positive and 279 who were awaiting their test results). A total of 765 patients were in ICU beds and 485 patients were on ventilators.

As of Sunday night, 351,000 Americans had died of the virus. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week here.)

See Westfield's final numbers for 2020 here.

See the Westfield look ahead 2021 story here.

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