AVON, Ind. — The first school district to start the semester in person is also the first district forced to rethink its plans.
The Avon Community Schools Corporation started its school year almost two weeks ago and have reported at least four positive COVID-19 cases. School leaders announced that starting Tuesday, Avon High School students will be transitioning back to e-learning temporarily.
In the meantime, the school district is reviewing and finalizing a hybrid learning approach for the high school, which will be used during the weeks of August 17 and 24. Students will return to in-person learning on August 31.
During Monday night’s board meeting, dozens of teachers, parents and students voiced their concerns - some in support and others wanting more transparency and data. The meeting was so packed, school officials were forced to move the meeting to the middle school auditorium to give people more space to social distance.
Avon Federation of Teachers President Suzy Lebo said the district has left many teachers in the dark.
“We’ve really not been given any information from the health department or from the board about why the decisions are being made,” Lebo said.
So far, the district hasn’t released any official numbers to the public about the number of confirmed cases and the number of students quarantined.
“How many first graders have to be quarantined before it is too many first graders. In my opinion, that is one,” Lebo said.
Some parents and students are in support of in-person learning, especially many of the student-athletes begging the board to keep the schools open. However, other students still don’t feel safe. One high school athlete said, “Personally, I want to come back to school, but I don’t want to be there. It is just not safe, and I don’t feel comfortable.”
As Avon High School students learn from home this week, some teachers and students say hybrid learning is the way to go. It would allow students to have both a in-person and remote learning schedule.
“It lets us maintain our relationship with our students and if we don’t have a relationship with students, there is not a lot of learning going on,” said one teacher.
“I can give my students a more effective education in a virtual or hybrid setting,” another teacher said.
A night of conversations that showed how much the school the district is divided, leaving board members with a tough decision for the rest of the school year.
