Murray County Schools launches Homework Hotline

Published 8:00 am Thursday, February 11, 2021

CHATSWORTH — Murray County Schools has launched a Homework Hotline to assist families with academic and technology needs after school hours.

Phone numbers for each school are available on school websites, and the helpline, which opened Feb. 1, is available from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Superintendent Steve Loughridge told the members of the Murray County Board of Education during a work session Thursday. Teachers and other staff members rotate “on call,” but the duty is voluntary, so “you don’t have to do it.”

“They can do it from home,” Loughridge said. “They just have to be available” during hours for which they agree to staff the hotline.

Murray County Schools returned from winter break last month with complete virtual learning for all grades due to a high number of positive COVID-19 tests and quarantines among students and staff that led middle and high school students to conduct distance learning from Dec. 3 until the start of the holiday break in the middle of December. Elementary schools continued conventional instruction in December, but they, too, moved to remote learning after the break.

After that week of total distance learning last month, all students moved to a hybrid model, where “A” group students attend in-person classes Monday and Wednesday, learning virtually the other days, while “B” group students attend in-person Tuesday and Thursday, and all students learn virtually on Friday. The system is expected to continue the hybrid model at least until Feb. 22.

Thus far, most queries for the Homework Hotline have been for help with technology, which has become integral to instruction during this time of increased distance learning, rather than academics, such as assistance solving algebraic equations, Loughridge said.

“It’s just another way for us to try to help, because we have asked parents to do more in this (COVID-19) pandemic era,” he said.

Also Thursday, Loughridge revealed the system will hire an immigrant outreach parent coordinator to assist immigrant students and their families with $35,000 in grant money from the state.

In order to be eligible for this grant, a system must have at least 50 students who meet “immigrant” status, which includes being born outside the United States and a limited amount of previous time in American schools, said Rachelle Terry, the system’s coordinator for federal programs. Murray County Schools has 76 such students.

In prior years, when Murray County Schools received less funding from this grant, the system used the money to purchase basic school supplies, like backpacks, for immigrant students, Terry said. “The state is pretty restrictive” on how funds can be used, but hiring an outreach coordinator is “number one.”

This coordinator will “work with children and their families, because the idea is to help families get acclimated, not just students,” she said. This individual will need to be bilingual, as 73 of the 76 families speak Spanish.

The coordinator will be system-wide, not tied to any school or age level, Loughridge said. He or she “will work with all ages and their families.”