At a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Governing Board unanimously voted to continue remote learning for the next two weeks, returning to a hybrid model of in-person learning for education on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the recommendation of Superintendent Steve King.
The board made the decision in the hopes of teachers receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday, Jan. 15, as they are currently expected to in accordance with Yavapai County plans for vaccinating essential workers. The board intends to meet again on Tuesday, Jan. 12, to reaffirm this decision, giving the board to adjust if something happens to the vaccination schedule.
“The key issue is going to be availability of the vaccine,” Board President Eric Marcus said at the meeting. “The primary reason for meeting next Tuesday is to ensure that in fact the vaccine is available to our staff members. The numbers are in the red. My hope is that that changes as the vaccine becomes more available, but given what we understand from the [Yavapai County Community Health Service] and from the medical advisors who are advising us, the hope is that we would be able to resume in-person learning for those who want it. The option of staying remote is in the hands of each individual parent. For those parents who choose to go back to in-person, we would be going back to in-person on the 19th, assuming that the vaccine availability follows the pattern that Superintendent King identified, and that that results in available staff.”
With Monday, Jan. 18, being closed for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, returning on Tuesday will hopefully allow for teachers to acclimate to the vaccine and know if they have any side effects before returning.
When the district returns to in-person learning, it will do so with a modified schedule, set for four full days a week of in-person learning, with Friday being set for remote learning, especially focused on the students who are not on campus. Teachers will be on campus all five days.
The board discussed several options for in-person learning for the spring semester that would hopefully allow for reduced spread of the virus within the district, including alternating half of the students on campus each other day, or ending school days early, but the “4+1” option was by far the most popular among the teacher population, according to King.
The board expects that details on future developments will have to be made later on, as the continued difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic make long-term planning difficult.
“What happens if things change tomorrow, which they could in some way?” King asked. “Being as responsive as possible to what we’re seeing in our community, what we’re seeing in our staffing, what we’re seeing with the vaccines, what we’re seeing with the virus, I believe would be the most prudent response. Keep it as responsive as possible.”
The district plans to continue distributing Chromebooks and wi-fi hotspots to families who need them during remote-learning, but hopes that fewer will require it with the return to in-person learning in the near future.
At the end of Tuesday’s board meeting, Marcus was unanimously reelected by the five-person board to continue as board president, with a unanimous vote for Mary Valenzuela to continue on as vice president.
