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As the end of the school year draws closer, Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials are contemplating how much learning loss students have sustained during the pandemic and devising a plan to get kids back on track in the year ahead.
Trustees in a study session Tuesday attempted to understand how nearly a year of campus closures and reopenings, distance learning and modified school schedules that provide just a few hours of face time may be impacting K-6 learners and their ability to meet grade-level expectations.
Assistant Supt. John Drake shared reading assessment data from the beginning of the 2019-20 school year and compared it to similar benchmarks measured at the start of the current school year, when students already had months of distance learning under their belts.
As Newport-Mesa Unified School District middle and high school teachers used a non-student day Friday to decompress from a chaotic first semester, on the final work day before winter break district officials sent out a quick communique to the school community.
The message informed district families all secondary students would return to distance learning on the Jan. 4 start of spring semester. A two-month dalliance with in-person learning which saw kids return to campuses under a hybrid schedule would be paused, at least through Jan. 22.
“[A] significant increase of COVID-19 cases throughout the state, Orange County and our local community has impacted our district and workforce, severely limiting our ability to find appropriate substitute employees who provide critical services,” Supt. Russell Lee-Sung explained.
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An agreement between the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and its teachers union which would have eliminated one half-day of in-person learning for elementary school students to allow for teacher prep time was rejected by board members, who called the move “unacceptable.”
Trustees were asked in a meeting Tuesday to approve a memo of understanding reached between district negotiators and representatives from the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers regarding working conditions under a hybrid learning model.
That agreement contained language regarding parent teacher conferences, special day classroom teacher compensation and preparation time.
But controversy arose over a portion of the MOU pertaining to the hybrid schedule for elementary students, who currently attend in-person classes for half days in a morning or afternoon cohort four days a week, excluding Wednesdays, learning online the rest of the day.