Northeastern hybrid schedule remains unchanged after superintendent seeks input on adjustment

Board of Education Members Mrs. Jill Parker, Mr. Joel Augustus, Mr. Jeff Yinger, and Dr. John Crankshaw, along with Superintendent John Kronour and Treasurer Dale Miller, when they officially broke ground in October at the sites of the two new PreK through 12th Grade campuses under construction in the Northeastern Local School District.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Board of Education Members Mrs. Jill Parker, Mr. Joel Augustus, Mr. Jeff Yinger, and Dr. John Crankshaw, along with Superintendent John Kronour and Treasurer Dale Miller, when they officially broke ground in October at the sites of the two new PreK through 12th Grade campuses under construction in the Northeastern Local School District.

The Board of Education for Northeastern Local Schools has recommended not changing the district’s hybrid learning schedule after the superintendent asked for their input, according to the school board.

The district’s current hybrid schedule has students attending classes in-person two days a week and virtually three days a week.

The district uses Wednesdays for cleaning, disinfecting and other schools needs, but Superintendent John Kronour asked the board for input regarding all students attending class in-person on Wednesdays.

“We follow a hybrid plan with students attending classes in-person two days a week and using virtual learning for three. This allows the staff to have Wednesdays to thoroughly disinfect the schools mid-week, catch up on grading and lesson plans for both in-person and virtual, communicate with parents and work virtually with their classes or with smaller groups of students who need focused attention,” the school board stated.

During a meeting last week, the board discussed a proposed plan to bring all students in on Wednesdays, but “decided to not recommend this change of plan” after receiving input from staff and administration.

“The board advised the administration to continue Wednesday as a virtual day, as changing it would place even more strain on an already overtaxed system under current conditions,” the board stated.

The board said that one of the most important reasons for not recommending this scheduled change is due to the shortage of available subs, as well as social distancing.

“Teachers and administrators are voluntarily giving up time during the workday they normally spend grading, planning, communicating with parents, etc., in order to cover supervision and/or instruction of other classes. They also spend time cleaning their own rooms, as our custodial staff continue to be stretched to its limits,” the board stated. “In addition, there is no way to maintain even three feet of social distance with the entire student body in the buildings at one time.”

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