The William S. Hart Board discussed potential learning options for the spring semester on Wednesday, including two distance or alternative options and a “blended” model of partial in-person learning. 

Assistant Superintendent Kathy Hunter provided an overview during the Oct. 21 meeting of the three learning options available to students for the spring semester beginning Jan. 11, 2021, should they be permitted by health guidelines.

The options presented during the meeting included long-term remote study through Learning Post Academy, continued remote learning with their current school and a blended learning model. 

While all Hart District students have engaged in learning via remote instruction, with the exception of small cohorts of students with specific needs such as English language learners and special education, students and their families are expected to have a few options for the spring if a return to campus is permitted

“Reopening will ultimately still depend on meeting state and local guidelines, nevertheless, I hope this update helps provide some additional clarity about the path forward in the next couple months,” said district Superintendent Mike Khulman.

While the possibility of reopening remains uncertain as it remains dependent on public health guidelines and COVID data released yesterday by the California Department of Public Health shows that L.A. County remains in the most restrictive “Purple Tier” on the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, the district continues to prepare for the first opportunity to return to some level of in-person instruction.

“For schools to reopen, state and county health guidelines essentially require four consecutive weeks of qualifying for a less restrictive tier,” Khulman said. “The L.A. County Department of Public Health has added that reopening will likely not be automatic even after four qualifying weeks, they may choose to adjust requirements based upon facts on the ground at that time.”

With the implementation of blended learning for some percentage of students, those that elect to remain with their school but fully remote may experience some differences in instruction compared with the fall semester.

“Parents just need to know that the teachers will each be adapting what model to use to teach from and so it’s not going to look exactly as it has during the online-only for everybody,” said Hunter.

Throughout the Fall, the district has workshopped different potential blended models and videos were shared of teachers from the district presenting how some of those models would work.

Two blended instruction models were presented in the meeting, the “Whole Group Rotational Model for Hybrid Learning” and the “Concurrent Classroom” model.

“Whole Group Rotational” is geared towards project- or lab-based classes, and has students dedicate the entirety of their in-class time on working on those labs or projects and spending their online work preparing for activities and exercises to get them ready for the school work time, or vice versa with preparation done in the classroom and projects completed at home.

The “Concurrent Classroom” model sees teachers instruct to both physically-present students as well as remote students on a video call at the same time. 

The teacher simultaneously shares what is displayed on the projector in the classroom with their online students and uses a wireless mic to offer freedom of movement while still providing clear audio to remote students.

The only issue with the concurrent classroom model the district has encountered is an inability for remote students to always hear what their fellow students in the classroom are saying when they speak, which usually results in the teacher having to repeat such interaction to their remote students.

The district is expected to send out an email to all families describing the potential options available for the spring semester on Friday, Oct. 23. 

Those documents are to be posted to the District website as well, according to Hunter.

On Oct. 30, families are to receive the “Spring Decision Form” via email.

Superintendent Mike Khulman is expected to hold a virtual coffee Q&A via Zoom the evening of Nov. 3 to field any questions from families regarding the options available. 

That meeting is to be available to view after the fact as well on the district website.

Families are to be asked to submit their decision electronically by Nov. 13, and all decisions are to be considered final, with need-based exceptions available.

With that information, school counselors and administrators are scheduled to begin the process of scheduling students for the Spring on Nov. 30.

Thursday’s meeting of the Hart District Governing Board is available in its entirety, here, the portion discussing the potential return to campus begins with an introduction from Superintendent Khulman at approximately the 1:43:00 mark.

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