[Cory Vessa]

Dear Fellow Trustees,

First off, thank you so much for attending the meeting last night on Student Performance in the First Quarter. I know it was last minute and 4 of you are about to leave the board. Your presence showed your dedication to our students and I am very grateful.

Last night I asked about whether there was parity across the district in terms of in-person instruction. I cited how though my daughter who attends Grisham Middle School is getting true teacher interaction in-person, some students are really just doing virtual learning in the classroom where the teacher teaching that class is also present, with all interaction limited to virtual. I know that interaction may be virtual only during synchronous time, especially since the numbers in person are so low at some campuses, but I just want to make sure students are getting the in-person help they need during asynchronous. A student should not have to email the teacher to ask a question or get assistance if he/she is in-person during asynchronous.

I also want to make a caveat. There are some teachers who need to be the exception to this. They are at high risk for complications for Covid 19 and need to work remotely as an ADA accommodation. I believe those teachers should be able to continue teaching remotely. I know some of these teachers personally, and it would be a huge loss for our district if they had to resign. As much as I value in-person instruction, I feel there should be some flexibility. Obviously, this is my opinion and I do not speak for the board. Thus, I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,

Cory Vessa

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure that I totally understand the question, but I will respond with my general opinion on the matter. This is my own personal opinion, some will disagree, and I respect that.

In my opinion, the pod system, or any other form of materially compromised on-campus learning is not effective. I believe that the recent data presented to the Board supports that. Nobody is at fault. We did the best we could, and now is the time to respond to data, and recalibrate. … just like a good sports team does at half-time. I believe that those kids and teachers returning to campus should enjoy the same pre-Covid learning opportunities (with appropriate safety protocols). And, for those families that aren’t willing or able to send their kids back to a more traditional school environment, they should have the option of a top-notch remote learning experience.

The key word is CHOICE. Parents should be able to choose the optimal method, for how their kids are taught (either face-to-face actual in-classroom traditional teacher-to-student learning, OR remote/virtual learning). Parents are best equipped to make that decision for their own kids and their own families. There is no right or wrong universal answer. Parents CHOOSE.

Teachers (and select staff capable of working remotely) should also be given the choice as to whether they prefer to serve as a virtual educator, or traditional in-class teacher (like the pre-Covid days). I do not believe that teachers should be forced into classroom teaching, if they feel unsafe. Teachers CHOOSE.

Back to CHOICE. If the supply of teachers choosing in-classroom teaching exceeds the demand of students choosing in-classroom traditional learning, I think we are good. If we do not have enough teachers choosing to teach in the traditional in-class, face-to-face manner, then we should utilize a fair and equitable system to prioritize which teachers are permitted to teach remotely. Teachers at high risk and/or having family with pre-existing compromised immune systems should be given first priority to teach remotely. Perhaps healthy teachers above a certain age, represent the next tier of personnel allowed to work remotely. At some point, after applying a fair and equitable priority system, we would reach an equilibrium to handle teacher and student on-campus needs.

For students and staff that are on campus, we must follow the strict safety protocols outlined by the District. For students that learn remotely, we must provide and support the best remote learning platform possible to optimize the educational experience.

Finally, I must state that what I am proposing may not be considered “equitable” by some., inasmuch as the in-classroom learning platform will be different from the virtual/remote platform. However, what IS equitable is that all families may CHOOSE what’s best for their kids.

I am one of the Board members that will be passing the torch to a new trustee, so this may likely be my last post to the message board. I appreciate the opportunity to share my opinion. There are few things more important than offering our children the opportunity of an effective public school education, and I wish all the best to the parents, educators, new trustees and other stakeholders in the RRISD community.

[Amy Weir]

I think there is so much diversity in our schools. We won’t see true parity for a while because I don’t believe that we will see any 2 schools that have the exact same system. Grisham is just across 183 from Deerpark and yet, they are doing different things. It was mentioned on Thursday, but to give more detail, Deerpark no longer has asynchronous time for the virtual learners. They stay in the class with the in-person learners until the teacher is certain that each student has mastered the lesson for the day. The in-person learners can see the virtual learners on the screen in the room, but without the interactive white boards that the elementary schools have, my son says that the virtual learners can not see or interact with the in-person learners. So many of the in-person learners are choosing to be on their laptops. My son says the teacher is clearly giving instruction directly to the in-person learners (and including the virtual learner) he can see the teacher answering the in-person questions. But if those in-person students want to interact with classmates that are virtual, right now they can only do it by logging onto their computer. So many, if not most, according to my 12-year-old source, are logging in at their desks even though they don’t have to for the instruction part. He says the feel is totally different than it was in the pod era. He is very excited to go back in January.

I think that, especially in this time of transition, that we be mindful of our campus leaders and ask that the entire community support them and know that what is happening at your campus may not be exactly what is happening at another campus. But hopefully the best ideas and solutions will float to the top and will be shared with all campuses.

I know first-hand there are teachers, school administrators, staff, and even top district administrators that very much need to take leave. I would caution that the federal and state laws regarding leave, whether under the American’s with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, or the Families First Coronavirus Response Act are too complicated for us to discuss or make district wide decisions on as a board. Everyone has their own circumstances, which are private, and that is solely between that staff member, HR, and their principal. My hope is that each individual situation is judged on its own merits for the best outcome for the district, the students, and the staff member requesting leave.

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