The Wilton-Lyndeborough School District plans to hold a special meeting Thursday to decide if the district should switch to a fully-remote model following the holidays, when they expect quarantining to result in teacher shortages.
The board was originally set to hear a presentation last week from the district’s Remote Learning Committee, made up of staff and School Board members, which recommended entering a remote learning model after Thanksgiving vacation, through Jan. 18, or two weeks after the winter break. However, the board held off on hearing the presentation or making a decision after deciding there had not been enough advance notice for families to attend the meeting or give feedback.
With its next regularly scheduled meeting not until Nov. 10, the board has called a special meeting for Nov. 5 to deal with the issue.
In a letter sent to district parents seeking feedback, Superintendent Bryan Lane said that in accordance with the New Hampshire Department of Health recommendations, teachers who are traveling outside of New England for either Thanksgiving or the winter vacation are required to quarantine for 14 days. Based on the number of teachers who indicated they will be traveling for one of those breaks, the district does not have sufficient substitutes to cover all classes, Lane wrote.
The remote learning period would run from Nov. 30 through Jan. 18, or 28 school days.
“The School District only has two substitute teachers available at this time. The reality is that the School District will not be able to provide supervision for students in their classrooms or Special Education support if we have too many teachers and staff who cannot be present due to required quarantining,” Lane wrote.
The district has dealt with this situation before during this school year, according to Lane, and there have been days when students at the high school have held what Lane referred to as “essentially a large study hall” in the gymnasium when there has not been sufficient staff coverage.
If Wilton-Lyndeborough students entered a remote learning period, students with special needs would still be allowed to attend school in person four days per week, and be supervised by their case manager and support staff while attending classes remotely.
While students would not be attending classes in person, because it is a staffing issue and not due to exposure to or caseloads of the coronavirus, the district would continue to hold co-curricular athletics, as long as the NHIAA continues to allow games to be scheduled. The NHIAA’s guidance currently allows team practices to begin in early December with the start of interscholastic competition set for January.
Residents interested in becoming a substitute teacher can apply at the district’s website at www.sau63.org.
The School Board is set to meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a nonpublic session, followed by a public session starting at 7:30 p.m. The link to participate via Zoom or by teleconference call-in will be available of www.sau63.org prior to the start of the meeting.