The Old Rochester Regional School Committee on December 9 reviewed the results of a Back-to-School Feedback Survey the ORR district sent out to parents and caregivers on November 20. The survey yielded a roughly 50-percent response rate from parents and guardians of junior high and high school students, giving the district a parents’ perspective of the school year thus far.
According to the results, most ORR families report relative satisfaction with the variables of School Year 2020-21.
When it comes to whether the school’s communication regarding learning expectations and school updates is adequate, at the junior high, 121 respondents say they either agree or strongly agree. At the high school, 251 agree, strongly agree, or remain neutral.
Fifty-three, 42, and 14 respondents said synchronous and live instruction on Mondays and hybrid-out school days at the junior high is either neutral, helpful or very helpful, respectively. Roughly half strongly agree that their child enjoys hybrid-in school days, with only 13 reporting that they disagree or strongly disagree.
Two-thirds of parents say hybrid-out workload is adequate, with the other third roughly split between feeling it is either too much or not enough.
Most of the remote students’ parents agree or strongly agree that their child has enough interaction with their teacher online during the day, and only one respondent rated the workload as insufficient.
However, the results show that over half of remote-learner parents are still not ready to send their kids to school. The other half remains undecided, with only one parent expressing their readiness to send their child to in-person learning. Overall, though, only two respondents disagreed that their child’s remote teachers provide them with opportunities for meaningful learning.
The high school results show that 251 of the 292 respondents either agree, strongly agree or feel neutral regarding communication. For them, Monday live instruction and hybrid-out day education is at least adequate (85), helpful (75) or very helpful (23), with 61 and 20 calling it somewhat helpful or not helpful, respectively. High school parents agree (101) that their child enjoys hybrid-in days, and others strongly agree (107).
High school parents responded similarly to junior high parents regarding the hybrid workload, with two-thirds finding it at least adequate.
Parents of remote learners mostly found teacher interaction to be adequate, but nine of the 25 respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the question. Two-thirds are not ready to send their kids back to in-person learning, with only two saying they are ready; six were undecided.
Neither junior high nor high school respondents favored eliminating February vacation and replacing the week with four remote learning days. Still, the margin was relatively narrow, with 37.7 percent of junior high respondents in favor of the question and 42.2 percent at the high school in favor.
At both schools, only a small percentage of respondents stated that they were “not comfortable” in their ability to assist their child with the technology they need for hybrid-out and remote days, with the overwhelming majority finding it either adequate or very comfortable.
There are currently 635 high school students in hybrid learning, 75 in remote, and 15 being home-schooled. The junior high has 365 in hybrid, with 57 in remote, and 12 being home-schooled.
School Committee member Frances Kearns wondered what the district would do with this information, especially the more negative responses.
“I think hearing this … feedback was an important next step for the district,” said Superintendent Mike Nelson. The big takeaway, he said: “Making sure Mondays (a Hybrid-Out day for all students) are as meaningful as they can possibly be.” He said he is already always looking at ways to improve communication and said another takeaway would be finding ways to create more connections between students and staff.
According to Nelson, this won’t be the last survey parents will receive before the end of the school year. He said parents’ feedback would help drive future decision making as the pandemic persists.
School Committee Chairperson Cary Humphrey acknowledged that Nelson remains in the middle of a “tug of war” between folks who feel strongly toward seemingly opposing directions. “But I agree,” Humphrey said, “these surveys — this is the parents’ opportunity to speak up. … Everybody is wanting to row in the same direction, but, unfortunately, when you’re the superintendent … you’re always going to be caught in the middle.”
“There’s always room for improvement,” said Nelson. “We are not going to become complacent or relaxed in terms of making sure that we’re doing what we need to from a safety standpoint.”
Devoll said students have been cooperative in wearing a mask and cleaning their workspaces, but there is still the need for “constant” reminders to maintain social distancing.
Later in the meeting, the committee determined that the 2020-21 school year was not the year to reinstate a two-year, foreign-language graduation requirement; after a lengthy discussion, the committee voted 4-2 to end the requirement just as it was reestablished after 13 years.
The argument centered mostly on the limited foreign-language choices this year — two, actually — Spanish and Latin. And for remote learners, there is no choice; it is either Latin or nothing.
It was only last spring when the School Committee voted to make two years of a foreign language a graduation requirement. And although some committee members still favor reinstituting the requirement, most agreed that 2020 just wasn’t the year to start.
School Committee member James Muse was passionately against the two-year requirement — for 2020 or any other year, calling it a “farce” and remarking, “[I think it is] despicable that we’re creating this scenario unnecessarily.”
“This is a different school year than the one we all anticipated,” said High School Principal Mike Devoll. “I would advise that, due to the pandemic and the variables in our learning plan, that this might not be the year to start.”
The final vote was 4-2, with committee members Heather Burke and Humphrey voting “no.”
After, the committee voted unanimously to change its dual enrollment (DE) credit policy to allow those grades to count toward a DE student’s grade-point average (GPA) but declined to motion to allow DE grades to affect class rank at ORR.
“We feel strongly that class rank should be an apples-to-apples comparison of classes offered at the school versus GPA, a reflection of the grades a student earned,” said Devoll.
There was some concern among the committee about equal access to dual-enrollment classes, which comes with an out-of-pocket cost. “In terms of equity, I don’t think it’s in the right place,” said Kearns.
“We shared those concerns,” said Devoll. “Again, it’s the apples-to-apples in class rank. Not all peers have the same opportunity.”
Muse was concerned about making any decision that could potentially hurt any party involved, whether it be DE students or Advanced Placement students who could possibly see an AP-level class dropped should several students seek the same course from DE. Furthermore, students taking only ORR classes could see their class rank go down despite having high grades, only because DE classes offer 5.0 credits instead of ORR’s 4.0.
By keeping DE courses from affecting class rank, said Devoll, there would be a more level playing field for students. But allowing them to count toward the GPA would only help students.
The vote was unanimous; however, Burke abstained from voting.
Later, when Humphrey called for a second to a motion to adopt a replacement-fee policy for technology out on loan to students, all he got were “crickets,” as he put it when no one spoke up to second it. He asked if anyone wanted further discussion, but again, no one spoke. Eventually, Margaret McSweeny made the second, and the ensuing vote was unanimous.
“That was awkward and bizarre at the same time,” said Humphrey, noting that the committee had just entered the meeting’s fourth hour.
The committee then approved a memorial plaque to honor Nolan Gibbons of Marion, who passed away suddenly on August 18. Nolan was 15 years old.
Sophomores Gabriella Berg and Kathleen Dunn presented two options for a plaque that will include Nolan’s photo, a quote he often said: “Everyone likes to be themselves,” and a QR code to Nolan’s Spotify artist page.
“[Nolan] was an outstanding artist with huge aspirations,” said Dunn. The sophomore class recently held a “day of purple,” when students donned Nolan’s favorite color and offered donations for a fund to create a memorial in his name. They raised just over $600, and while the plaque will only cost a fraction of that sum, the sophomore class wishes to donate the remaining funds to a scholarship created in Nolan’s name at A Capella Academy, a summer music camp that Nolan especially loved. “So that other students like him … will get to experience what he loved,” said Dunn.
Also during the meeting, Nelson reported that an Instagram account had been taken down after students reported the presence of a “Republican at ORR” page rife with racist overtones and political ideology, which featured the unauthorized use of the ORR Bulldog in a red “Make America Great Again” hat in front of a Confederate flag.
“This social media was not supported, not sponsored by the school district,” Nelson said. “While recognizing the importance of free speech and dialog, hate speech has no place in our schools.” He said he reported the page to local law enforcement and contacted Instagram to take the page down.
Devoll lauded the students for their quick response. “It was awful, and it was just really sad,” Devoll said. “It saddened me, but the student response is what I don’t want to get lost. I want that to be our focus. Our students immediately disavowed this page and did the right thing and were mindful of their digital footprint when doing so, so I applaud them.”
In COVID-19 news, Nelson reported that there were 43 positive COVID-19 cases across all Tri-Town school districts at the time of the meeting. The high school had 24 students in quarantine; nine students with COVID-like symptoms were in isolation awaiting test results. Three students were in isolation at the junior high school after positive test results; 10 students were in quarantine, with one student showing COVID-like symptoms in isolation awaiting test results.
The School Committee officially approved ORR’s participation in what will be a shortened winter sports season (see separate story).
In other business, the committee approved the naming of the new ORR press box in honor of Howard “Howie” Stillman Bates.
The committee accepted a $10,000 donation from the Friends of ORR Drama to fund an auditorium lighting capital project.
The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee will be held on January 20 at 6:30 pm.
Old Rochester Regional School Committee
By Jean Perry