Written by Tanya Terry
Flint Community Schools School District Superintendent Kevelin Jones recently described the reaction he received when the Flint Community School District made the decision students would not return to school Jan. 24.
“Out of our 3,000 scholars I probably received two phone calls from parents asking if there was another option,” he said. “I didn’t receive any calls from teachers or stakeholders that were negative in nature or felt that was the wrong move. I received two calls from parents who felt this was a hardship for them and tried to give them another option which would be fully virtual for their families because we do have two virtual options.”
One of these options is distance learning, where the student is learning a full day. The other option is self-paced learning.
Virtual schooling through GenNet, which is through the GISD (Genesee Intermediate School District), is a self-paced program where students go on platforms. There is a teacher in the program, but the teacher is not with them every day. Parents are also able to watch and support their work. In addition, mentors are provided through the district to assure attendance, that students are turning in their work and that testing is done as needed. This program has been going on since the beginning of the school year, and since a new semester started in January, it was recently sign up time for the yearly virtual program. The time was also extended in which families could sign up for this option.
Jones said some families have opted out of the self-paced program and opted instead for the distance learning program because there would be a teacher present all day.
Around Jan. 24, Jones received phone calls from individuals who did not reside in Genesee County and do not have children attending Flint Schools.
“Mostly all of our staff, our unions, our cabinet, our stakeholders, all of our board members-7-0-felt that it was the right move (to not return to in-person learning at that time).”
Local health officials had keyed in on Flint and looked at data the district has looked at since March 2020. This data was the positivity rate, the vaccination rates for ages 5-11 (11%) and the fact the CDC (Center for Disease Control) showed over 1,260 positive COVID cases per week per 100,000 occurring weekly.
“It was stated by our Genesee County health officials that this number was 10 times too high…So, Flint Community Schools, the board and myself had already stated we’re going to do what’s best for children’s bodily health first, and ensure that we can keep them safe from COVID as much as we can.”
Jones said at the time the decision was made about Jan. 24, students were prepared.
“We had already made sure that our students were two to one-meaning they have a device at school, and they have a device at home, and they have internet as well.”
Computers were dropped off at homes, as needed. Teachers continued to be available all day.
“We have parapros. We have support staff. We have our Wellness Team that did check-ins for scholars that may need other services. We have our social workers that supported. We also have Crim Fitness Foundation. Our kids still had gym. They still got up in their homes and had their normal classes as they normally did. They had breaks throughout the day. We did all we could with the virtual learning, and we don’t know if that’s going to happen again.”
Jones acknowledged there is a lot of research about kids being out of school.
“Most of that research is about summer learning loss when there’s no one in front of scholars.”
Flint Community Schools have offered social-emotional learning supports since before the pandemic. The district partners not only with the Crim Fitness Foundation, but also YouthQuest. There has been mindfulness training in the schools for at least four years.
The deadline for the Flint Community Schools K-12 tutorial program has been extended to Feb. 14. The purpose of the program is to mitigate learning loss.
“Tutoring is one of the interventions we’re using to close the achievement gap since we’ve been in this pandemic two years. We’ve been at the table discussing interventions. We’ve been at community forums discussing interventions, and our parents asked for tutoring at our community forums.”
The tutoring can be before or after virtual classes in the district.
Students will return to in-person learning Monday, Feb. 7.
“My son is excited to go back to Doyle-Ryder and see his friends. Our school community has not had any reservation for our decisions. We may have a very small minority who had an issue with our decision making around this. Most of the folks who had problems with the decision are not part of the school district at all.”
According to Jones, the mask mandate is still in effect at Flint Community Schools. Temperature checks will continue to be conducted. Symptomatic children are sent to a medical assistant, who attempts to get permission from parents to perform a COVID-19 test.
“If they do not get permission from parents to test, the parent will have to pick up the scholar.”
Those who get permission to get tested will receive an antigen test. If the test result is negative, the school staff will check with the parent to determine if they would like to pick up their child from the school.
The district received 4,000 tests on Jan. 18.
Scholars are able to wear cloth, blue masks based on the guidance CDC and local health officials. However, the highest quality masks possible are suggested. The state has given the district 2,000 KN95 masks, which will be given to student or staff that are symptomatic until they get tested.
Jones is optimistic about healthy improvements taking place within the district.
“We do have air filters in each classroom. We do have air systems in each classroom. However, we’re going to upgrade those because we found a better one. When the weather breaks, we’re going to be wrapping up our work on our HVAC systems and air quality as it pertains to having air conditioning in all our buildings. It’s been the first time in 70 years that Flint has had air in the entire district. We’re excited about that. That’s going to improve the air quality in our buildings. We’re also looking into new filtration systems right now. We are working with Dr. Laura Sullivan. She’s been working with us also with our hydration stations. Those have been tested several times, and our scholars will be able to drink out of the hydration station, which is free from any lead or bacteria. To be safe and mitigate COVID, they won’t be drinking right out of the water filters. They will be using their water bottles up or using a plastic cup. That opening will be 10 a.m. Feb. 8 at Southwestern. We are hoping to make things safer with the moves we’re making.”
