1:21
During Monday evening’s more than four-hour meeting, the board got an update on COVID-19 from Superintendent Dr. Peter Stiepleman and heard from many concerned parents, teachers and staff – some in support of a return to in-seat learning and some in support of remaining entirely virtual.
Kathy Steinhof, the President of CMNEA, spoke first and urged the Board to consider the needs and fears of teachers before voting to send students back to in-seat learning.
“I am not dismissing the cost of being virtual. We know virtual learning is not ideal, and we are keenly aware that our students and our families and the community and our employees are facing other critical and unintended consequences of our district being virtual,” Steinhof said. “But virtual has kept many in our community safe and potentially alive. It doesn t make sense to give up on the data driven plan we have been committed to, and we re so close to the finish line.”