Well, it's almost decision time. If it seems like it has been a long and drawn out process, it has. By the time school starts in whatever format that might be, 165 days will have lapsed since last we had students in our buildings. That's five months and twelve days. We (the Board and I) have heard from many of you in the intervening months, and more frequently in the last couple of weeks. We appreciate your input and the respectful manner in which you have engaged with us. I am also grateful for the support you have provided with your words of continual encouragement and prayers during this unusual time. With the number of days that have passed, I can understand your desire to see our students return to the classroom. And I have also read the same news stories many of you have; about schools around the country that have opened, only to swiftly close again due to an outbreak. So I can also understand those of you who wish to see us remain online or implement our hybrid option.
The fact of the matter is there are no good options and this is far from an easy call. Make no mistake, the decision that is ultimately made will not be popular with everyone. If you support the decision that is made, I'll encourage you not to view it through rose colored glasses. If you don't support the decision, I'll ask for your continued grace. Then of course either way, there is a chance the decision could be reversed or changed with little to no advanced warning if conditions in Black Hawk County dictate such a change is warranted.
When the Board convenes on Monday evening, the decision they make will be rooted in data. Now, a big part of my job, for better or worse is to advise the board. That is, quite literally how I earn my paycheck. Providing advice and recommending a course of action. Now, they don't always have to take my advice or agree with my recommendations; which is the whole reason we have a board: To consider ideas, debate issues, and hopefully form consensus. That is how good decisions are made. Truth be told about 90% of the decisions that are made at the board table are relatively easy calls. We don't need to spend a whole lot of time discussing which math books to purchase; our team has done the legwork and researched the options. We don't need to spend a lot of time pondering whether or not now is the right time to buy a school bus, and if so which bus we should we purchase. We also don't need to spend a whole lot of time determining which color scheme we should use for the new commons floor. Easy, right?
But no matter what, how easy or how difficult a particular decision may be, it is critical that we look to the data. That data will guide us, provide cover, rational and hopefully give comfort that the ultimate verdict is right and just. Some of that data you have provided us and will certainly carry weight in deliberations. For better or worse, the governor's office released metrics that school districts are expected to use as part of our data set. Now, we can debate the rationale behind those metrics, but that is probably a discussion best left for another time. I'll only say that they are unique to Iowa.
Nevertheless I sat down over the weekend to do several things. First, to develop a decision matrix based on the multiple data points available that the board can use in their deliberation. Second, to lay out the number of options that can be considered and even some 'variations on the theme'. Third, to provide my recommendation as to the proposed course of action.
The number of options available to us is work that already has largely been done over the course of the last several months. We have done the research, made the plans, and with a few minor variations will be able to implement any of the options that may be selected. Of course there are details that remain, which will be worked out in the coming days, but in terms of execution we are prepared (well-as prepared as we can be). Remember: no battle plan survives first contact.
To the first point, quite simply this is just a math problem. In the event you are wondering, right now our average 14 day positivity rate in Black Hawk County is 7.8% (August 4). If you look at the table above, you can see quite clearly that we are in the 'Minimal to Moderate' category which suggests the learning models that we are permitted to use are either 'onsite' or 'hybrid'. So yes, it goes without saying that we are more than likely going to be either onsite or hybrid. But, as I was creating the decision matrix using the table above, it was some other data points that gave me pause. If you look at the red box, one of the metrics is health care resource capacity concerns. That means on our decision matrix, we are actually looking at the number of inpatient hospital beds available: 54.90% as of August 3. We are going to be monitoring hospital capacity as part of our decision making process this school year. Let that sink in for a minute.
So to the third point: my recommendation. If you have been patiently reading today's post with anticipation that at this point in the article we would finally arrive at the recommendation, I apologize because we're not there. I don't have one: yet. Granted, I have a few more days of data to collect but I'm not quite ready. That's because I also realized that as much as we all want things to return to normal, we are far from it.
A few weeks back I was in a meeting with the administrative cabinet here in the district and I shared much the same: far from normal. A lot of their work for the foreseeable future is going to be focused on logistics and management. Fact of the matter is, a lot of what you are likely to see in our classrooms this year is abnormal. Face coverings. Physical distancing. An attention to details that under any other situation would go unnoticed or not even considered. I visited with Ron Steele from KWWL last week for an upcoming episode of the Steele Report, and as we were sitting in a classroom I remarked that in a lot of ways it resembled a room right out of 1950: desks spaced in straight rows as far apart as we can get them-all facing the same direction. That was a first grade classroom by the way.
Yes, the work we will be doing this year will look far different from what it did on March 12, 2020. We won't be seeing small group activity. Students probably won't be able to approach the teacher's desk with the same casualness that was the norm a year ago. Likewise, I doubt if you will see many teachers 'take a knee' and get down on the same level as that student who has a question about multiplying fractions.
School does start soon. Of that I am certain. Exactly when it returns to normal? Hopefully soon as well. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
P.S. Be on the lookout for another email on Thursday afternoon for directions on how to listen in to the board meeting on Monday night.
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