The Richmond Board of Education voted unanimously to continue transitional learning until spring break for elementary students and until April 23 for secondary students, but with some modifications.
Teachers in the secondary transitional program (offered to Grade 8 and 9 students) will be reduced from the current 18.5 full-time teachers to five full-time teachers, and check-ins with students in elementary transitional programs in the Richmond School District will be reduced from twice a day to a minimum of twice a week starting already on Jan. 1.
Liz Baverstock, president of the Richmond Teachers’ Association (RTA), presented a brief to the board of education about the workload teachers are straining under given extra duties during the pandemic.
She spoke of the “profound fatigue” and “daily anxiety” of teachers, adding they are making classes welcoming for students with COVID-19 protocols in place, but “at a profound human cost with a workload that’s not sustainable.”
“For the Richmond Teachers’ Association, the status quo is not an option,” Baverstock said about the elementary program. “We need to plan for something that is going to see us through perhaps to spring break or even longer.”
She added either more funding or reorganization is needed.
Currently, there are more than 3,000 students learning remotely in Richmond.
The transitional learning extension was supported unanimously by the board of education.
Trustee Donna Sargent the plan is “not remarkable but doable.”
“Less support for our children in transitional isn’t what I want to vote for, but it’s clear that our staff need support,” Sargent said. “This transitional learning was supposed to be very short term and we knew it would be very hard to continue.”
Scott Robinson, district superintendent, pointed out COVID-19 exposures in schools seem to have peaked in November.
He said there have been about 50 exposure cases in schools, but none over the past three days.
The report to the board states that it’s “highly recommended that all students return to their home school” by the time this extended transitional period ends. However, the school district will reassess the public health situation prior to spring break.
It was spring break of 2020 when all schools were shut down to in-class instruction because of the pandemic, and they didn’t re-open until September.
