Not much more to say than the title. The drumbeat of closure beats louder.

Read the details here.

On March 13, the Governor announced that all Utah schools would be “dismissed” for two weeks. That meant kids would stay at home and teachers would teach from within the schools — with parents’ help. Today the Park City School District announced that teachers would be teaching from home. Jeremy Ranch students were told to come to school and get another packet of work — and this time take laptops home.

It’s the slow beat of the drum — telling us that things aren’ getting back to normal any time soon. It’s time to consider what that will look like over the long-haul.

I am not implying that any decisions have formally been made. In fact, no one knows what course the pandemic will take. However, most experts hope the virus will peak in six to eight weeks. Utah state epidemiologist Angela Dunn says, “We know that we are at the very beginning of this epidemic. Outbreaks like this can be expected to last several months.” California Governor Gavin Newsome projected that 56% of the state’s population (which 25.5 million people) will be infected within eight weeks.

With those projections, it is unlikely any Park City student is stepping a foot back into a classroom on March 27 — the end of the two-week dismissal. In Park City, that’s a week before spring break, so the conventional wisdom will be to wait two more weeks. That gets us to April 13 which is a little over three weeks from now. By that time, it is likely the virus is just ramping up. Let’s say the virus does peak six weeks from now around May 4. That means it is at its height of damage — the top of that curve we’ve all been reading about flattening. How long does it take to get sufficiently down the other side? Two weeks? Three weeks? I can’t imagine an all-clear would come before a month after the peak.

And there we are on June 4. Schools out for Summer, unless of course, they decide to roll on through the Summer… but that’s something to opine on another day.

So, I believe now is the time to start thinking ahead. A couple of weeks of home-schooling is one thing. A couple of months is another. Do you need to change your work schedule? Can you and your partner juggle teaching the kids? Do you need to find someone to help care for your kids? Will the Family Leave Act be modified to account for these types of issues?

Now is the time to start planning.

Again, who knows. Utah never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps the state will decide that we need to drop social distancing and aim for herd immunity. Perhaps the state will decide that economics are more important than people. Perhaps Chloroquine is a miracle cure. Could happen.

However, it’s not too early to start considering a logical outcome. Planning ahead may help reduce the stress that I know many of us are feeling. Things are likely to get tougher before they get better.

Note: Before I get the hate mail on using the word “dismissed,” that is actually what our school district is calling these two weeks. That terminology likely came from the state.

A few days ago, we wrote a story called Free the Park City Teachers. We advocated that teachers could use some time off. A Park City teacher tried to provide a comment but couldn’t. So, he or she emailed their thoughts. I appreciate the time taken to write this. It educated me and is very informative.

I am a teacher at Park City High School.  Before I respond to the post, I want to make clear: our priority at this point is the safety of our students.  It was a weird few days in our schools in PCSD, with lots of uncertainty in a situation that was constantly – and still is – evolving.  Moving forward, I know the safety of our students and community is of paramount concern to our teachers, administrators, para professionals, classified staff, and everyone else who works with students.  

With all that stated, I want to offer some insight to this post because I don’t think the post grasps what is actually happening in schools and why taking a few weeks off is, in fact, a huge concern for teachers and requires a monumental amount of work.  While we appreciate the sentiment of care, of taking the time off, I want to elaborate on why that is problematic in practice, in theory, and by professional standards. I cannot personally speak for the elementary teachers, although I know extra prep time and collaboration time is important for them, and without students they will still be looking for ways to improve their practice.  I can, however, speak for many at the secondary level, including everyone in my own department and other departments across the school.

For all teachers, our students learning is most important, coming second only to their safety.  At the secondary level (6th – 12th grades) this means we are still teaching and learning the next two weeks through Canvas in an online format.  Logistically, this is a nightmare.  I have three different courses I teach; some teachers have four or more.  This requires I move all of my teaching and all my students learning and assessment online.  I generally have my courses planned in detail one to two weeks ahead of each class day, and more broadly outlined a month or so beyond the class day.  For most teachers, we cannot have a year of content planned because the lessons change depending on our kids needs, their strengths and weaknesses, and how each group of students responds to new material.  That varies from quarter to quarter, even week to week.  The lessons I have planned, however, cannot just be “moved online” because they are planned with student interaction, opportunities to ask questions, classroom activities in groups, and immediate feedback on student work.  I have to construct entirely new lessons for each day, lessons that are often less effective than what they would’ve been in person.  For example, many of my students were supposed to complete one-on-one writing conferences with me next week.  Instead of meeting in person and working through their essays together, I will be video conferencing with them, which requires scanning every hand written essay into the computer (it is an AP course that requires handwritten work), sending that copy to students, and then sorting times each day for them to login to Canvas to video conference with me, a less effective method than if we could meet in person.  That is the logistical problem for one class.  What about chemistry courses with physical labs that must be completed?  Or 3D art where kids need a wheel to throw pots?  Or language teachers who need to talk with their students in Spanish, French, or Mandarin?  What about P.E.?  Teachers are scrambling to determine how they will move their courses online. 

More importantly, we have diverse learners in PCSD. We have students who are emergent bilinguals receiving English as a Second Language services.  Scaffolding for students in an online format will not serve their needs adequately, as the individual attention they need is difficult to deliver via a screen.  We have students who are in special education who benefit from differentiated assignments and one-on-one support.  We also have AP testing the first two weeks of May.  Students have been working seven months to prepare for those exams, hoping for strong scores for college credit.  Two weeks off in March is incredibly difficult, the time of the year when teachers and students are pushing through content before the review begins in April.  

The point here is teachers are professionals who want their students to succeed.  The reason we will be there this week and next week is because it will take hours to restructure those lessons and offer online feedback.  Our students safety is critically important to us; but we also want them to be successful learners, so we are putting in the hours these next two weeks to ensure the best from a difficult situation for our students and our community.  

We don’t want to take the time off; it is too important for our kids that they can continue learning and progressing at this critical point in the semester.

Obviously there are times of the year when kids and teachers and parents need breaks.  We all do.  And clearly it is crucial for student safety that we are not in school right now; getting through course material does not supersede students’ health.  But it is important for the community to know why it matters to us to be there, and why even though we won’t have students we are still getting paid.  

Beyond these concerns, I want the readers of the Park Rag to know teachers are worried about our students beyond the learning in the classroom.  Many of our kids have parents who work in the restaurants and resorts.  Suddenly, parents are not getting paid as the resorts close and tourists and locals stop going out to dinner.  How are families going to pay rent?  How will everyone’s needs be met?  For parents who are lucky enough to still work, what about child care?  These are massive concerns that teachers are grappling with through email and text.  

As I said in the beginning: I appreciate the sentiment that teachers should just get time off, that it would be “good” for us.  But I think the context of the school year, the challenges we face, and our commitment as professionals must be understood to show why we need to be working this coming week.  I would be a better teacher with consistent time with my students and they would succeed more as learners with consistent feedback from me.  Given the current crisis, online is the best we can do – and should do – to protect our students and provide for their education.     

My wife and I started preparing today for how we are going to teach our two elementary school kids over the next two four-to-eight weeks. One of the steps taken by teachers was sending home packets with at least a week’s worth of lessons.

In addition, teachers provided login information to the district’s online resources, such as I-ready, Raz Kids, and other computer programs. Frankly, it looked like a lot of work to pull all this together. That said, it definitely gives me, as a parent, the tools I need to at least have some sort of learning at home.

I do predict there will be some issues with the online tools. It’s not exactly straightforward on how to access the apps (if you haven’t done them at home before). So, in case you run into problems (these are based on what I saw in Elementary school), here are some tips:

• There should be specific instructions on how to access online applications provided to our child.
• Access the online apps from your school’s website. For instance, Jeremey Ranch is jres.pcschools.us. Then the Student Links menu is your friend.
• If you are clicking on an icon in Clever, it may not work… click on the word below the icon.
• Try this before you need it. It may take you a bit.
• If it doesn’t work on a tablet than try on a regular computer
• Try Chrome or Firefox on the regular computer, if you have a problem.

In general, though, the district seems to have done a great job for week one of the lockdown. Now it’s up to us parents to execute on the lessons provided.

Schools out … for a while. Well, at least for kids. However, teachers still have to report for the next couple of weeks. From what I have heard, many teachers have already planned out the rest of the year. There is no more planning to do. If they go to school and no kids are there what are they going to do?

Are they planning assignments for next year?

I’m the first in line for fiscal responsibility. A younger version of me might say, “Don’t pay teachers if they aren’t teaching kids!” A few years on, I understand that a break may enable teachers to teach even better.

So, Park City School District, please don’t make the teachers show up to go through the paces at our schools. Give them a break. Let them rejuvenate. If they are called into action after two weeks off, on March 30, so be it. However, for whatever period kids are out of school let teachers think, plan, and get even better. When they are actually called back in late April, they should be ready to go.

If they aren’t better, then they shouldn’t have been our kids’ teachers in the first place.

But for the majority, the break will do them good. As a parent, I ask you to free the teachers. Please give them space. They will come back better than ever.

That will be a better outcome for our kids.