Manatee schools had three class options during COVID-19. School board may cut one

Hybrid classes were meant to alleviate crowding and promote social distancing on campus. That option is now in question during the second quarter of school in Manatee County, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

The district offered three options at the start of school: five days a week on campus, online classes or a hybrid schedule that rotates students between online and in-person classes. From the very beginning, district leaders promised families the ability to switch learning formats after the first quarter, which ended Friday.

When the school board met on Thursday evening, reviewing community feedback and planning for the coming months, Superintendent Cynthia Saunders recommended they remove the hybrid option. The district was expecting a large number of online and hybrid students to return to campus, she said, questioning whether the hybrid option was sustainable.

On July 28, about three weeks before the start of classes, the district had 9,688 students enrolled in the hybrid schedule. There was less interest in the hybrid option than online classes (with an enrollment of 10,299 students) and in-person classes (with an enrollment of 20,160 students).

Saunders said it was hard to create and schedule classes for a small number of students, especially when educators were already spread thin between the students who attend in-person or online classes full time. The challenge would be far greater if Manatee’s pool of hybrid students were to dwindle, the superintendent continued.

Each of the five school board members had different ideas about how to proceed, with some backing Saunders and others rejecting the idea. With their collective feedback in mind, the superintendent said she would keep the hybrid option on a survey that would soon go out to parents.

Individual schools issued a survey on Friday, asking families for their preferred learning option in the second quarter, and parents will have until Oct. 14 to reply, Saunders said in a follow-up interview. She said the preliminary data would give board members a better idea of how to move forward at their meeting on Tuesday.

Elementary students, who generally have one teacher each day, should be able to stay in their current option or switch learning formats this month. Secondary students have several classes and teachers each day, making their course scheduling more complicated, the superintendent said.

It was likely, she said, that students in middle and high school would switch to their chosen learning option at some point after November.

Students in any grade level will remain in their current option if the schools receive no response. That rings true for online and in-person students, and if the school board were to keep the hybrid schedule, it would likely apply to those students as well.

Rumors about hybrid option

In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s meeting, before the board was informed of Saunders’ recommendation, a rumor had already started about the hybrid option.

“People are very concerned about what’s going to happen,” teachers union President Pat Barber said at the meeting. “Principals have already told parents there will be no hybrid. They have already asked parents to make the choice. They’re already telling teachers what they are not going to be doing, because of their concern for being able to plan.”

Board member Scott Hopes said he was afraid the rumors would dissuade parents from choosing the hybrid option when schools release their surveys. He urged families to pick the best option for their children and to give the board an accurate picture of their needs.

Saunders felt it was best to ease the burden on teachers and other district staff, offering only in-person or online classes, but the school board will have to make the final decision on whether to scrap its third offering.

The school-by-school survey results may help the board reach a consensus at Tuesday’s meeting. And regardless of their preferred option, the circumstances were different for online or hybrid students who struggled or failed to log on during the first quarter, Saunders said.

“There are some that are not academically thriving at all where they are: eLearning,” she said. “They can’t do it and if I’m going to salvage their semester I have to get them back in the building. And two, if they’re under the age of 16, we have an attendance statute. If you’re on eLearning and you’ve done nothing and there’s no engagement, technically you’re truant.”

‘The perfect storm’

The idea to remove hybrid classes was met with immediate resistance from Hopes, an epidemiologist.

Saunders and several board members were under the impression that hybrid classes were unsustainable, but Hopes said he wanted concrete data before making any decisions.

A recent district poll garnered more than 12,500 responses from local families. It revealed that 7,266 people — or 59 percent of those responding — would send their children back to school, even if their choice made social distancing harder. The poll also showed that 3,786 wanted to change their child’s current learning option.

However, it was unclear how many of the responding families were already enrolled in the traditional campus schedule. For those who wanted to switch options, it was unclear which option they had in the first quarter and which option they hoped to choose in the coming weeks.

It was also unclear how infection and quarantine numbers would be affected if Manatee removed its hybrid option, which is meant to promote social distancing. As of Thursday evening, the district had recorded 93 COVID-19 cases since the start of classes, and more than 1,000 people were quarantined after being exposed to those cases.

“We run the risk of having significant numbers in the high schools and the middle schools,” Hopes said, addressing the new infections and overcrowding that may follow a decision to eliminate hybrid classes.

Charlie Kennedy, the board’s vice chair, said he expected thousands of additional students to be on campus if Manatee eliminated the hybrid option.

“I think a month ago, maybe more, I brought up, ‘Hey, food for thought, maybe we should eliminate hybrid.’ I’ve done a complete 180 based on the feedback that I’ve received from teachers, from parents and so forth,” Kennedy said.

Barber, the longtime president of the teachers union, told board members she was nervous for the future. Students were returning to campus and the county dropped its mask mandate, creating a risk of community spread and new infections in local schools.

“I’m very concerned about the perfect storm coming together and us putting all these kids back in school at the same time,” she said.

Barber said teachers and paraprofessionals shared her concern. However, she said, some of those educators were split between all three learning formats, and everyone was exhausted after the first quarter of school.

“They are as exhausted today as they usually are at the end of the school year,” she said. “They are working 60 to 70 hours a week just trying to keep afloat. They’re trying to meet the needs of the students, of the parents and of the district. They just can’t continue to do it.”

Board member Dave Miner echoed her concerns about employee burnout. He suggested they remove the hybrid option and allow students to continue with online or in-person classes full time.

Gina Messenger, the board chair, was also in support of cutting hybrid classes. Messenger said she visited most of the schools in her district, finding that educators were spread thin between in-person and online classes, while some hybrid students failed to engage during their online days.

“There might be parents that think it’s working, but it’s not really working for the kid,” Messenger said.

Board member James Golden, who may swing the final decision, reflected on the last two months. They were largely successful in protecting students and completing their first quarter, he said.

But their success created a new issue: how do you accommodate a flood of students who are now comfortable enough to return to campus?

“All of this is occasioned by the concern that we have for the safety and health of the children,” Golden said during Thursday’s conversation.

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 11:10 AM.