Folsom-Cordova School District approves schedules, platforms for distanced learning ahead

As the first day of school nears, the Folsom Cordova Unified School District dotted its I's and crossed its T's Monday night in the final meeting before school starts Aug.12.The board heard updates on distance learning and approved the elementary, middle and high school bell schedules for the school year.Transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students will have 180 minutes of instruction per day; first- through third-grade will have 230 minutes of instruction, while fourth-grade through12th-grade will have 240 minutes of daily instruction. There was much discussion of how this time willbe utilized and if students willbe watching lectures on a computer screen all day long.Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jim Huber placed his full faith in the teachers."Teachers are the educational experts," Huber said. "They went through a lot of training, a lot of college and a lot of credentialing classes on how to engage kids and help them with their learning. I think you'll see a variety of different approaches and I think a lot of teachers will do things differently daytoday."Assistant Superintendent Curtis Wilson added, "I definitely don't see 45-minute blocks of direct instruction where the teacher is lecturing the entire time. A bunch of things can happen during this time that is not direct instruction where a student is frozen to the screen watching their teacher talk to them."The school district also announced the platforms teachers will use to interact with students. Microsoft Teams will be used at all levels for synchronous learning (live, in real time interaction between students and teachers.) Google Classroom will be used for assignments in fourth- grade through 12th-grade, while SeeSaw, a kid-friendly student portfolio platform, will be used along with Google Classroom for special education students. Students in transitional kindergarten through third-grade will only use SeeSaw.Board member Ed Short said it wouldn't hurt to offer some training on these platforms to parents."We have professional development for teachers but parents need tobe engaged and learn as well with working around some of these new platforms," Short said. "Maybe a virtual town hall meeting in Zoom or something like that. Schedule a time for folks to learn, not just posting on a website, but some virtual learning for parents. I think that would be important."Board member JoAnne Reinking suggested the school websites be updated as much as possible for parents to get information. She also suggested that committees with parents and students are put together to get feedback on how distance learning is going."This way we can see areas that need improvement and also what we're doing well," Reinking said. "Whether it's at each school or it's district wide, I think we need to be getting feedback from students and parents."Several board members mentioned doing anything possible to help students in the special education program. Joshua Hoover went as far to suggest the board at least look into the process of applying for a waiver for in-person school for elementary students because of his concern for special education students."I remain very concerned about our special education students," Hoover said. "At the very least, I think we should consider applying for a waiver for our elementary special-education students to be able to offer in-person learning for them. It would be better than the distance learning model that really doesn't provide the necessary resources for a number of our special education students."