With spring comes an increased effort to add more in-person learning opportunities for central Delaware districts.

Appoquinimink School District eliminated two of its cohorts — X and Y — that used to split the week of in-person learning to evolve to four days of in-person schooling, with a cohort able to still learn entirely remotely. 

Cameras — installed in the classroom that allow for synchronous teaching between “Zoomers” and “roomers” — are to thank for that.

“Once our cameras were fully installed in all of our classrooms, we saw the ability to teach synchronized and some of the reasons to not go four days was because we were still working with some kids on some days and other kids on other days,” said TJ Vari, assistant superintendent for the district. 

Though the district has moved to this model, Dr. Vari called it a rolling process. The district started with students with special needs, then opened it to students who were struggling. Students whose parents could provide transportation were invited back next. Now the district is working on meeting the needs of students who have been fully virtual who are now interested in returning to in-person learning. 

While the three-foot rule has always allowed the district flexibility, the state has constraints on the amount of students who can be on buses (23 students, versus the non-COVID norm of about 76). The district is already down several routes from last year. This week, officials have been working through the process of creating bus stops for the students who had been virtual and doubling up the routes. 

Normal “double runs” are taking a group of elementary students and then heading back out for secondary students, Appoquinimink superintendent Matt Burrows said. Under COVID-19, it’s going out for one group of elementary students, dropping them off at school early, before heading out for another bunch of elementary students and dropping them off.

“Scheduling is probably one of the hiccups that we've seen this week so we're continuing to work on that to maximize the amount of time kids are in school for instruction,” he said. 

While Dr. Burrows said it is fortunate a number of parents can drop their kids off at school, the schools aren’t designed for a heavy flow of traffic. 

“In terms of directing traffic on our campuses, it's all hands on deck,” Dr. Vari said. “Anybody who's available to direct traffic is out there helping cars through in the most efficient fashion we can do.”

Lake Forest School District is now adding in Fridays to its hybrid rotation.

Students attend on a week on, week off schedule. Since the fall, students attended in-person learning for four days, with Fridays remote for deep cleaning. Beginning after spring break (April 13), the district will now have a cohort of students in school for a full five days at a time, rotating between cohort A and cohort B.

“We were really exploring opportunities to get kids in front of teachers more since we moved to the fully hybrid format,” Superintendent Steven Lucas said. “We phased in with highest-needs learners in September and then in October, we brought in some lower grades and introductory grades, like sixth grade and ninth grade. Right before Christmas, we got everybody in for a week on and a week off. Since then we’ve been exploring options, how can we get kids in even more?”

With CARES funding, the district is now using Saturdays for deep cleaning days. Dr. Lucas said personnel has gotten "so good" with the processes and practices of cleaning the schools in a COVID-19-mindful manner, they don’t need the full day anymore.

Part of the adjustment will come for the teachers, who have been teaching “wherever is most effective” on Fridays, Dr. Lucas said. For child care purposes, many had been working remotely Fridays and using that time for collaborative planning.

“Principals are doing a good job of adjusting schedules so teachers can get more planning time,” he said.

The recent change from the CDC recommending three feet of distance rather than six didn’t have much of an impact on Lake, which already was using three feet of distance (per the state’s Reopening Schools Guidance released in July 2020 and updated in January 2021).  

“We’ve been encouraged from the beginning to be creative and find opportunities to get kids in as much as we can. It’s just being in compliance with the state lead,” Dr. Lucas said. “The state’s been great in that they haven’t told us how to do things, just to get kids in as much as we can.”

Capital will offer expanded services to students with highest needs, increasing in-person learning from two days a week to four days a week, Candace McCarthy, the Capital School District’s public relations specialist, said in an email.

“This includes our students with disabilities, English language learners and other students with high needs,” she said.

The new four-day schedule is being put in place at Kent County Community School, Kent County Secondary Intensive Learning Center, the Early Childhood Center and at all the district’s elementary schools. The program is also available to students with disabilities and special needs at Dover High School.

Due to damage sustained at William Henry Middle School by the tropical storm over the summer, students and faculty from WHMS have been sharing a building with Central Middle School. That is preventing the schools from expanding programming, Ms. McCarthy said. 

The Smyrna School District has not made any big changes.

“In the Smyrna School District, we have 65 to 70% of our students currently attending hybrid instruction across our eight schools, while the remaining 30 to 35% attend a strictly virtual model of instruction,” Superintendent Patrik Williams said in an email.

At present, the district has two in-person cohorts. Students attend in person classes two days a week, either on Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday.

“This has been our model since we phased in our hybrid model, beginning October 5th, 2020,” Mr. Williams said.

“Until the state of Delaware is able to reduce and/or eliminate current state of emergency restrictions, including social distancing in the cafeterias, classrooms and buses, we will remain at capacity limit and cannot add additional days,” he said.

“Of course, the state cannot make any changes until more folks are fully vaccinated, and the data allow this modification to the restrictions,” Mr. Williams said. “We fully understand this dynamic.”

But none of this means the district hasn’t slowly been increasing its percentage of in-person learners.

“We do add students new to our district who choose hybrid instruction at registration or current students whose parents/guardians would like to switch from full virtual to hybrid instruction,” Mr. Williams said. “This means that during any given week, we may add small numbers of students throughout the district at any of the eight schools.”

Caesar Rodney superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald said, while the state and CDC guidance matches on three feet, “unfortunately, there's no more flexibility as far as transportation is concerned.” 

“It's a law that we transport all students,” he said at a March school board workshop. “If, in fact, there was an executive order that allowed us not to have to transport all students, then we could in fact ask parents to bring their children to school and that would allow us more flexibility in getting more students in the classroom.”

At the school district’s March workshop, the board opted to remain in its current hybrid structure.