ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: School system answers question about online school

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Questions about Franklin County’s school program – the virtual learning option or online school – were answered by administrators Thursday on a Facebook Live event. Franklin County Schools Superintendent Chris Forrer and School Improvement Director Kelly Akin outlined the new virtual learning option, which will have 500 students when it begins Aug. 14.

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  • Questions about Franklin County’s school program – the virtual learning option or online school – were answered by administrators Thursday on a Facebook Live event. Franklin County Schools Superintendent Chris Forrer and School Improvement Director Kelly Akin outlined the new virtual learning option, which will have 500 students when it begins Aug. 14.
    Questions about Franklin County’s school program – the virtual learning option or online school – were answered by administrators Thursday on a Facebook Live event. Franklin County Schools Superintendent Chris Forrer and School Improvement Director Kelly Akin outlined the new virtual learning option, which will have 500 students when it begins Aug. 14.
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CARNESVILLE – Questions about Franklin County’s school program – the virtual learning option or online school – were answered by administrators Thursday on a Facebook Live event. Franklin County Schools Superintendent Chris Forrer and School Improvement Director Kelly Akin outlined the new virtual learning option, which will have 500 students when it begins Aug. 14.

Forrer began by commending the virtual learning team because they created a new school with staff and no budget in less than a month.

“Our current enrollment, we are right around 500 students,” Akin said. “Our enrollment window was open for a total of five weeks. It was open at two different times for a total of five weeks. There needed to be a deadline so we could prepare.”

Parents of online students will pick up Chromebook computers supplied by the school system Aug. 12. 

Pick up for elementary school students is at their home school and middle and high school students will pick up computers at the Central Office on Busha Road in Carnesville.

“An email will be sent out with information about your location’s drive-through procedures and pick-up times,” Akin said. “Also, be on the lookout for an email with parent and student resources. These resources are being provided so that parents and students are familiar with the platform and how to navigate the platform before we begin next Friday.”

Parents should also expect a call from their child’s “home-based teacher” – similar to a homeroom teacher or counselor – before the start of virtual learning.

“Email is going to be our main source of communication,” Akin said. “So VLO (virtual learning option) parents, please, check your email daily. I have been sending out several emails. If you have not received them, please check your spam folder. We have had a lot of people say they found those emails there. If you haven’t received them, contact the Central Office and we will make sure your email is in our database.”

The day before the informational meeting, the handbook for the online school was sent to parents. 

Akin asked parents to read the handbook, share the information with their student and fill out the form that is linked at the end of the handbook.

Akins said most forms for online students will be sent electronically.

School supplies are the same for the virtual school as they are for in-person learning. There is a section in the handbook that addresses school supplies.

“We do have a later start,” Akin said. “We’ve been building this new school. The enrollment is about what one of our elementary schools would be. One of the reasons we had to push our start date back was because of that enrollment window and leaving it open for so long so that families could be able to make the best decisions for their student and their family. Once we knew how many students we needed to prepare for, we took some time to review our options so we could choose a platform that would allow us to support them in the best way possible.”

Teachers were just trained on the platform last week.

“Teachers are also viewing how the lessons are arranged on the platform according to the standards and making adjustments to them,” Akin said. “This is being done so if you decide you want to send your children back to a brick-and-mortar school in January, they can pick right back up where they left off and there’s no gaps in their learning.”

This is being done for every course being offered.

“We do not plan on students making up the five days, but if a student needs the additional time to complete a course, we are willing to allow them that time,” Akin said.

Akin then opened the meeting up to answer questions from those watching.

The questions and answers were as follows:

• How will pathway classes and virtual learning go? 

The courses offered on any platform are limited. CTAE director and teachers have looked at requests and on making determinations based on helping students, especially seniors, complete pathways. Underclassmen may have to wait until they return to brick-and-mortar school to complete their pathways;

• How are you going to protect virtual students? The handbook says that virtual students will need to go the schools frequently in order to pick up books, manipulatives, do tests, etc. These kids will not have the same exposure to all the germs within the schools. Is the school system going to thoroughly disinfect everything that we have to pick up at the schools and do this as a drive-through type system? How exactly will books and other things with lots of unexposed surface area be disinfected? Will the teachers be required to plan a month in advance and get the students the supplies that they are going to be required to use at least a couple weeks in advance so that they can be disinfected naturally? 

The kindergarten-fifth grade teachers were already looking at the resource list for VLO students preparing those supplies in Ziploc bags and ordering manipulatives. Teachers are preparing items ahead of time like they would for in-person. VLO students will not be asked to walk through schools with other students. Pick-ups will be handled through a drive-through procedure or coming to the office, which would allow for social distancing and wearing a mask. Teachers are trying to get ahead because they know families have to plan to pick items up;

• How will curriculum be different virtual versus face to face?

The difference is the platform is more of an online platform. Teachers are monitoring the platform and providing support. There will be passages to read and videos to watch. There won’t be a live teacher coming on to provide that instruction. Live teachers will be providing support;

• When will we know class schedule? 

Infinite Campus should have posted schedules Aug. 7. The handbook outlined a suggested schedule for online students. Virtual learning is self-paced and families can make adjustments to the schedule. There may be times the teacher wants students online at a certain time to meet, but that will be determined by each individual teacher;

• What is the keyboarding class going to look like? 

It’s a CAMP class. It will help kids become familiar with the keyboard since most of their learning will be done using it. It’s just another way to support online students in their learning. They will also receive PE in elementary school;

• Will students be able to move at their own pace? 

Yes. There will be deadlines and due dates because the system does not want children to get behind in their learning. Part of the major responsibility of online teachers is to ensure students are staying on pace and mastering standards;

• What about gifted testing for virtual? 

If the students were recommended for gifted testing, they will be contacted by a gifted lead teacher and given the option to test in a small group setting or wait until the student returns to brick-and-mortar school;

• Will the virtual teachers be picking up where teachers left off last year? 

Teachers will be addressing any gaps in learning, but most of the standards were taught last year. The current year’s standards have to be taught, but teachers are prepared to address gaps in learning;

• Will students going to brick-and-mortar school have to share supplies? 

The goal is to do it as little as possible, but there are cleaning procedures in place for supplies that have to be shared;

• Will hotspots be available? 

It is being looked into;

• What’s the plan for students with individual education plans?

They should have been contacted by someone in the special education department. If there are any questions about special education services, Martha Long at the Central Office should be contacted;

• Will students be able to watch their classes live?

No, this platform is not that type of set up. This platform has dedicated modules. Students watch videos and answer questions;

• How are we choosing electives through the online school? 

Online classes have very limited elective offerings. Elementary and middle school students are both getting PE options to keep them active. High school electives have general electives. The offerings are limited;

• If I don’t need a Chromebook, do I need to pick up one? 

Yes, it is a requirement of the online school contract that students use a device provided by Franklin County Schools;

• Will the keyboarding and PE classes be live or can the students do it when they get to it?

The keyboarding class is on the platform. The PE class allows students to choose their activities and they have to write about what they did for a set amount of time each week;

• When will elementary students find out who their teacher is? 

The portal should have been turned on Aug. 7;

• What about team sports and online school?

Team sports is a PE option.

“I cannot stress how limited the electives are on an online platform,” Akin said. “We are going to start looking at what we may be able to offer in the spring. We have built this plane in three weeks. We are working as hard as we can to make this as good as we possibly can.”