By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
There will be no tearful goodbyes at the bus stop on the first day of school. No hastily packed lunch boxes for school. No need for new outfits for students.
Bowling Green City School students will be starting school online this fall.
The board of education voted 4-1, on Tuesday evening, to start the school year with virtual learning and no in-person classes. The lone vote against the all online classes came from Tracy Hovest.
The school year will start for students on Sept. 8 – and school administration assured that teachers will be prepared for virtual teaching, unlike in the spring when they had 48 hours to shift gears to online classes.
The decision to go with virtual classes was an agonizing one. But as the number of COVID cases continue to climb locally and nationally, the board decided to play it safe for their students and staff.
“I had a parent tell me today that it’s a hoax,” Superintendent Francis Scruci said of the coronavirus. “I’m going to disagree with that.”
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Batey said this morning that he has worked with local schools on their plans for the fall. Bowling Green faces challenges that other districts don’t, including no air conditioning in three school buildings and orders to not use fans due to the virus.
“That’s a big hurdle,” Batey said. “They definitely have some aspects that other schools don’t have to worry about as much. It makes sense to do the virtual option on the front end, then assess as time goes on.”
That didn’t mean it was an easy decision for Bowling Green City Schools.
“We want our kids back to school in the worst way,” Scruci said.
“But the trend in Wood County is not going in our favor,” he said, noting 74 new COVID cases over the weekend. And unlike other districts in the area, Bowling Green is home to the Wood County Fair and Bowling Green State University, which brings people from far away to this community.
“Part of leadership is not making the popular decision, but to make the right decision,” Scruci said. “We have to do what’s best for kids and best for staff.”
He noted that the district has had staff who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“While we may be criticized today, and we may be criticized for a couple weeks,” ultimately many other districts will have to make the same decision, Scruci predicted.
“Whatever this board decides, we will do to the best of our ability,” he said.
One by one, the board members explained their positions on in-person, online, or a blended program.
“I have soul searched about the decision I would make,” if her children were still in school, board member Jill Carr said. “We’re really only at the beginning of this disease, more is coming.”
With the county fair and BGSU opening for fall classes, more COVID cases are inevitable, she said.
“I can’t in good conscience put students and staff at risk,” Carr said.
Board President Ginny Stewart agreed.
“The cases of COVID in this area and throughout the country are not going down,” she said, adding that a 3-month-old baby reportedly has been diagnosed with the virus in Wood County.
Online schooling may be inconvenient, but the alternative is risky.
“We’re not taking the easy way out,” Stewart said.
Board member Bill Clifford suggested that the school district follow the county risk level system. If Wood County is in the yellow and orange levels for two consecutive weeks, then the district could move to the blended school model. Wood County is currently at the red level.
Board member Norm Geer suggested the logical step for the district would be to start with virtual classes then move to a blended model if COVID numbers improve.
“I think it’s important we don’t force any teachers to teach (in person) if they don’t want to,” he said.
Geer noted the school board’s continued use of Zoom for virtual meetings.
“I don’t feel comfortable asking someone to do something we’re not doing,” he said.
As other board members weighed in for virtual classes, Hovest said she felt like she was in the “twilight zone.”
Last week, much of the board discussion was on the blended school model, in which students would attend school for two days each week, and learn online for two other days each week. Parents would be allowed to choose the blended model or keep students home for all online classes.
“I really feel it’s important to not only allow your parents a choice, but also your teachers a choice,” Hovest said. “We owe it to parents to give them the option.”
Hovest worried about the impact of the decision on the district.
“If we chose to start out the school year remotely, you better prepare for a mass exodus,” Hovest.
But Scruci questioned that prediction.
“You cannot make the assumption our neighboring districts are going to accept open enrollments,” during a pandemic, he said.
Angie Schaal, executive director of teaching and learning, assured the board that teachers will be better prepared for online teaching this fall. The last week of August will be spent on professional development for staff.
Some teachers may use their classrooms for virtual classes, they will have schedules by class periods, and classes will be recorded so they could be viewed later.
“We have been planning for different scenarios,” Schaal said.
Scruci said teachers are proud of their jobs.
“They felt robbed of that opportunity in the spring,” he said.
It was suggested that the district review its online model at intervals throughout the year to evaluate if in-person classes are possible.
“The one thing we have to give the children is hope,” Scruci said a teacher recently told him.
