Whitfield County Schools moves closer to full in-person learning for high school students

Published 4:34 pm Thursday, October 8, 2020

As Whitfield County’s new coronavirus (COVID-19) rate falls from a summer peak, Whitfield County Schools has set dates to bring high school students back into buildings on a more full-time basis.

Currently, all elementary and middle school students who did not opt for total virtual learning this year are attending in-person classes five days a week, but because of the size of the student population at the system’s high schools, those students are broken into two cohorts, each attending two days a week and learning virtually the other three. On Monday, Oct. 26, cohorts will be discontinued, and all face-to-face high school students will attend school in-person Monday-Thursday, with five-day weeks beginning on Monday, Nov. 30.

All of those plans are contingent upon the community rates of COVID-19 remaining relatively modest, said Superintendent Judy Gilreath.

“Our intent from the beginning has been to get back to a regular schedule, but the (level) of the virus in our community was always going to determine what we do and when.”

As of Thursday afternoon, Whitfield County had 4,794 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which was more than all but 13 of Georgia’s 159 counties; 250 hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19; and 63 deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Whitfield County’s rate of 4,580 cases per 100,000 residents was 23rd-highest in the state.

Whitfield County Schools provides data on COVID-19 cases in schools on its website, wcsga.net. For the week of Sept. 27, four staff members and eight students were positive COVID-19 cases, according to the website.

“We’ve had a lot in quarantine, but not a lot who have tested positive, and very few who got it in school” rather than out in the community, Gilreath said. “We’re probably being overly careful about quarantining,” but when dealing with COVID-19, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Roughly 30% of Whitfield County Schools’ approximately 13,000 students opted for virtual learning to open this academic year, and while the plan was to begin allowing elementary virtual students to return to face-to-face learning if they wish at the end of this month, with middle school virtual students able to return in mid-November, and high school virtual students when the first semester ends in mid-January, the system has already been permitting students of all ages to shift back to conventional classes if they desire, Gilreath said.

“These are just estimates, but I think, now, we’re down to about 800 middle school students and 400 elementary students doing virtual,” she said.

“Some are struggling, and it didn’t take long for some to realize virtual is not best for them,” Gilreath said. “It puts a burden on parents, too, who are working and then have to help their children with virtual learning.”

And “some parents and grandparents are inexperienced with virtual learning, (which) creates stress” in families, Karey Williams, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, explained last month. Plus, some students lack proper space at home to do their virtual work, which can be a roadblock to success.

After Oct. 26, high school students who wish to continue virtual instruction may be moved to Edgenuity courses, with the exception of AP (Advanced Placement) and Dual Enrollment courses, Gilreath said. “Edgenuity is (a platform) we’ve already been using for some time.”

With fewer students engaged in virtual learning, plus moving them to Edgenuity, teachers will be less burdened than they are now as they try to balance virtual instruction with in-class educating, she said. With Edgenuity, teachers are still available to answer questions and provide assistance, but they don’t have to plan entire online lessons, as the platform offers those.

The system is looking into using federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to purchase Edgenuity or a similar platform for elementary and middle school students, Gilreath said.

“Our teachers simply cannot continue to teach both face-to-face and virtually, (because they) are stressed and overworked with our current model,” she said.

Gilreath believes more students will elect to return to traditional learning as the school year continues, particularly those in high school.

“When they see their friends are back in school, I think a lot of them will want to be back,” she said. “We’re going to keep offering (the virtual option), but a lot of these kids just need to be back in school.”