By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — A movement within the Indian River School District board of education and the community is saying enough is enough, and it’s time to move forward and get students back in classrooms full time.

“We see our children struggle with this on a weekly basis,” said Stacy Hennigan, mother of first- and third-grade students at Lord Baltimore Elementary in Ocean View. “They have a hard time trying to retain knowledge as they stare at a screen. My kids tell me how they are unable to have gym or art in a normal way and see their friends. I am sure the teachers also struggle, as they are not educated to teach in the Zoom-style brand of education.

“We continue to find ways to keep school closed and permanently damage our children of this great state. We need to focus on and find ways to open the schools back up full time,” said Ms. Hennigan in her presentation during the board of education meeting Monday.

For nearly a year since the COVID-19 pandemic settled in, hybrid (a combination of in-school and remote learning) and totally remote models have been the new educational norm.

Monday, the United States marked a solemn milestone, as the coronavirus death toll reached a half-million people.

However, as positive cases are trending downward with mass vaccination efforts ramping up nationwide, restrictive reins on business operations have been relaxed somewhat. And some school districts are opening doors more often to students.

71% hybrid in IRSD

At present, IRSD has 7,479 students, 71%, enrolled in the hybrid learning option and another 3,000 students who are fully remote, said IRSD Superintendent Dr. Jay Owens. For nearly all hybrid students, it’s two days in school under A or B cohort scheduling, along with two days of virtual learning.

In efforts to accommodate all students, the district made available 700 Wi-Fi hot spots for low-income families to receive reliable internet access as part of the Connect Delaware program and distributed 7,500 Chromebooks for students to learn remotely. Meals continue to be made available during the pandemic.

IRSD board member Dr. Donald Hattier and board president Rodney Layfield spoke on the matter at IRSD’s Monday meeting.

“I appreciate the work that is being done, Dr. Owens. It’s a lot of dedication from all your staff, including our teachers. I’m appreciative of that. As a board member, I thank you for what you are doing,” said Mr. Layfield. “But as a parent, I’m disgusted. We’re not doing enough for kids. I’ve got an elementary school student that is falling behind trying to do the best he can. My daughter, personally, is missing her entire senior year, prom, homecoming. I don’t know about graduation, what is happening. This is disgusting. We can do more.

“I feel like we are being micromanaged by the government here in the state of Delaware. We’re constantly asking questions, and I have read the emails that we are getting, mandating what we must do. From the people I have talked to in the other school districts — board members, administrators, teachers and parents — they are just waiting for somebody to crack that egg,” he continued. “Let’s do it. Let’s move forward. Let’s see what we can (do) about getting our students back in the classroom. Push the envelope a little bit.”

Dr. Hattier also voiced his opinion.

“I second Mr. Layfield on this because I totally agree,” he said. “The state is forcing things upon us, one way or the other, and I kind of agree — at some point, you have to force the issue because these folks on their own do not seem to want to do it.”

Number of COVID cases on decline

Ms. Hennigan had some statistics to share.

“As a nation, we have seen in the last six weeks, daily cases of COVID-19 drop by 78%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Delaware has also seen similar decline in COVID-19 cases. Since Jan. 11, Delaware has seen a 61% drop in cases. Currently in Delaware, hospitalizations are down below 200 and dropping,” she said. “Over 155,000 doses of the vaccine have been distributed. After this week, with the help of (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), it will be substantially more. According to doctors from Johns Hopkins, herd immunity will be here by April. Cases of COVID-19, both nationally and locally, will continue to plummet.”

Ms. Hennigan emphasized that it “is imperative to our schools to open now. As other school districts and private schools in the area have been opened full time, there is no reason to keep our kids in our school district out of the classroom setting. This is both a disservice to our kids and the general public.”

Dr. Owens reminded the board and the audience that the district remains under mandates to maintain 3 to 6 feet of social distancing.

“Six feet is suggested. Three feet is mandated for our classrooms … and our buses. It does put us in a major bind with trying to get students to school. Right now, we have not reached capacity in our classrooms. Our current buses that would normally hold 72 students currently will only accommodate 23,” Dr. Owens said. “It does hinder our ability to get more students in to our schools.”
At present, IRSD does not have a waiting list for students wishing to attend under the hybrid model.

Mr. Layfield said nearby Cape Henlopen School District has some elementary school students in school five days a week. However, not all students are accommodated.

“But they have a waiting list,” Mr. Layfield said. “We have accommodated all families that want to come to school (two days a week). That is outstanding. But we’ve done it for six months now. I would like to see us, after Easter, see what we can do about giving it a try. Send a poll out to our parents: How many want their kids to go back to school full time? There may be some of the 71% that are not comfortable with it. I understand that. There may be some teachers that are opposed to it. I respect their view.”

Remote instruction ‘limited’

Ms. Hennigan said remote instruction is not adequate, particularly for younger students.

“In a normal week, my children see their teachers in a limited capacity. They are in the classroom on Mondays and Tuesdays, and that is it. For the remainder of the week, they are given minimal work and no teacher interaction,” she said. “The assignments given take little time to complete, and in our opinion, it is not enough time for a well-rounded education and will be a disservice to them in the long run.”

Dr. Owens said Indian River is continuing to look at its summer programming. “We will try to facilitate some of the unfinished learning within our schools and provide some acceleration and previewing for the following school year,” he said.

J.R. Emanuele, president of the Indian River Education Association, said he also feels that students are not reaching their full potential.

“I am happy that we are out in front of the planning for the summer learning,” he said. “Our kids are definitely falling behind. I mean, there is no doubt about it. Everybody knows that. But I encourage some communication to explain the funding source for the summer learning. Also, whether the plan is for in-person learning or are we going to continue with what we consider remote?”

Mr. Emanuele focused on a full reopening.

“The discussion about the full return definitely needs to include all the employee groups — not just the teachers. I think it should include nurses, counselors, paras, secretaries, custodians, cafeteria workers, the bus drivers,” he said. “I may have missed it in your discussion concerning the CDC guidelines — I know that they are 3 to 6 feet. And for pushing for a full return, which I know that in-person learning is definitely the way to go. But is this the time to do that? That is a decision that this board is going to have to make. I think that our busing is going to be the biggest issue for spacing. I’m not sure how we do a 3-foot, if we are going to follow the CDC guidelines, or are we going to scrap those CDC guidelines? The busing is the biggest issue that we have anyway, with going (on) triple bus runs.”

As it is now, Mr. Layfield said it seems like IRSD is stuck in neutral.

“Somebody has got to put it in drive, maybe even low four-wheel drive, and start moving forward,” he said. “We’re a district that wants to do more. I am thankful of what we have done, but I constantly get phone calls daily from parents wanting to get back into the classroom — people that are articulate, speaking common sense and wanting to do more. I think we need to poll our parents where we are. If we don’t have it and the numbers aren’t there, then hey, Rodney Layfield is wrong. But if the parents are out there saying they want their students to come back, then we need to look at more. I have read the emails. I have read the recommendations from the CDC. I am not quite sure how the airlines are doing it. They are piling them right full, with masks on, and sending them across the country for profit.”

Dr. Hattier, a chiropractor, agreed, saying the district needs to move forward, “at least for the elementary school kids, which seems to be the safest group to deal with. This is something that should be happening. The Indian River School District has been a leader in a number of areas. It’s time. We need to do this. I hear from ... parents in my practice on a regular basis: ‘When are you guys going to do this? This is hurting my family. This is hurting my business. This is hurting our lives.’

“Then, when you look at the quote-unquote death rate, the death rate according to the CDC in the last 10 years has not changed. It’s the same. All we have done is substitute COVID for heart disease and other things,” Dr. Hattier said. “There is, in my opinion, some statistical malfeasance taking place here that is not good for our country, our nation or our kids.”

Superintendent: Four days not possible

According to Dr. Owens, based “on our numbers we have for A cohorts and B cohorts, we would not be able to accommodate both cohorts on all four days. Right now, the two-days-a-week option is offered to our students, even with transportation. Our typical students are two days. We have not opened it up to four days at this point. We do not feel we’d be able to open it for both our A and B cohort.”

Ms. Hennigan said she is fearful of the consequences.

“It is vital to have a well-educated public for our republic and our state. If we continue down this path of closure, we will see dire consequences. We will continue to see a rise in anxiety and depression in our youth, which we know is already happening. We’ll see more dropouts and failing grades,” she said. “We’ll see another senior class without a prom, graduation and other special events that we all hold dear for our youth. In closing, I want to say: Open the schools. There is no reason to keep them closed with all the information we have about COVID-19.”

Mr. Layfield agreed.

“Maybe I am the minority in this opinion,” he said. “But I think we need to be looking forward.”