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Parents Express Concern Over JPS Reopening Plan

Jamestown Public Schools parent Joanne Dean was one of three parents who addressed the school district’s board of education during Tuesday night’s meeting at Jefferson Middle School, expressing concern over its plan to reopen schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

A handful of parents and expressed their concern over the Jamestown Public Schools’ plan to reopen schools during Tuesday night’s meeting of the board of education in the auditorium of Jefferson Middle School.

The district released modifications to its plan late Friday afternoon after using the preceding days to analyze a district-wide survey released to parents in the wake of initial plans released on July 31. Among the highlights of the hybrid plan include a morning/afternoon schedule for students in universal pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, an alternate-half day schedule for students in fifth through ninth grades and total remote learning for students in 10th through 12th grade.

District officials held the first of three virtual information sessions Tuesday afternoon with the remaining scheduled for Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m.

One parent, Joanne Dean, said the first information session with the district’s superintendent, Dr. Kevin Whitaker, “left many questions still unanswered and parents even more frustrated.”

“I would like to suggest that the next two sessions be canceled as scheduled and broken down into smaller groups,” said Dean. “They should be separated by buildings and allow principals to participate or be broken up into grade levels.”

“I think we’re too large of a district to sufficiently address the concerns in an overall district-wide format.”

Dean also criticized the decision by the district — which, she said, decreased the number of half-days on its schedule last year due to difficulties for families and ineffective classroom time — to utilize them in this reopening plan.

“Now these are the only option for a majority of the students,” she said. “This is going to put an unnecessary burden on families especially for those that have parents not home during the day. I’m sure they are out there, but I’m not aware of any local district utilizing half-days.”

She also cited a letter from Whitaker included in the reopening plan in which he explains that the district is committed to “providing a plan that provides equitable academic opportunities for all.”

“It does not read ‘for all except grades 10 through 12,'” she said, referencing the decision to hold remote instruction for sophomores, juniors and seniors and explaining that there are six districts in the Western New York region with enrollments greater than Jamestown’s that have 100% of students attending in person at least two days a week.

“There are over 100 classrooms at JHS as well as the library, auditorium, cafeteria and gym spaces,” she said, asking the district to consider allowing more upperclassmen to attend school in-person. “With rotating half of the 1,350 students attending two days a week, there could be under 60 classrooms based on the 12-per-room guideline — and that is if zero families choose the 100 percent virtual option and we know that’s not realistic.”

Frank Galeazzo, another parent, in attendance, echoed Dean’s sentiments in asking the district to consider question-and-answer sessions with more specific populations of its enrollment.

“I understand the state requires you to have three, I recommend that you consider doing more than three,” he said. “I ask you to continue doing Q-and-As throughout the year as you re-evaluate. I ask you to reconsider, re-evaluating these plans much more frequently.”

Melissa Rhodes, meanwhile, questioned why parents were not involved in the district’s 50-person committee that worked to decipher the approximately 150 pages of guidance released by the state.

“Just taking feedback and surveys does not get the voice of parents,” she said. “Why weren’t parents invited to be a part of the committee? How does leaving 10-12th graders at home to start a fair option for these students? Why can’t we let them in for a couple of vital classes that should be in-person a couple times a week. If these students are expected to do at-home learning, are they still expected to take Regents exams? This does not seem fair because they would not be getting the equitable experience that they should be getting.”

Whitaker, in his report to the board, addressed several of these concerns and noted that the district did attempt to do its best to address the many problems associated with going back to school amid a pandemic, calling it a “tall task.”

“We knew throughout the entire process that we would never get to ‘perfect’ and that would never be able to satisfy everyone,” he said. “But, we did keep as our focus safety and that we would focus on instruction and that it would be an opening plan and that it would not be a forever plan.”

He did say that the district is looking into providing more specific information sessions and that it will consider adding more in-person courses for upperclassmen.

“One of our processes is to look at the smaller classes, singleton classes, as well as music and arts, and again bring some of those back to see how we do,” he said. “If we can maintain ourselves within the metrics of infection rates and continue to have the blessings of the departments of health and state education and governor, then we will continue to add kids back as much as we can and as often as we can. The five-week and 10-week model are just benchmarks. We will constantly be assessing our plan and how we are doing and what we’re doing for kids.”

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