Nodaway Valley officials start working on Return to Learn plan

GREENFIELD — Nodaway Valley Community Schools officials began looking through over 40 pages of guidance districts across the state received from the Iowa Department of Education last week.

They will begin this week and next to meet together as an administrative team on developing a Return to Learn plan for the district in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as next school year gets closer and closer.

Superintendent Paul Croghan gave the Nodaway Valley Board of Education an update on the return to learn process at their meeting last Thursday held at the high school. The Free Press and Observer joined the meeting via phone call due to social distancing. The Return to Learn plan is to be returned to the state by July 1.

“What people have to understand is that as far as attendance, grading, giving feedback and turning in work goes, that’s going to be required [this fall] in whatever form we’re in,” Croghan told the newspaper in a follow up interview.

Croghan explained to the board that options for the school might include, but wouldn’t be necessarily limited to, distance learning, a hybrid of distancing learning with face-to-face, or the “ultimate goal” of face-to-face.

There are many things school officials are having to consider beyond the notion of who goes to face-to-face classes and when.

Croghan listed several possibilities, such as limiting group sizes, reducing the hours students are in the building and upgrading cleaning measures. He added that there several other factors involved as well.

“If we do open up and there are spikes and we have to shut down again, then what do we do there and how can we do things? Being ready for that fluid resurgence of the pandemic is another part of this conversation,” Croghan said.

Ames Community School District announced recently it would be adding days to the front of the 2020-21 school year for remedial purposes. Students there will return to their previous classrooms for a short time and then advance a grade level.

Other school districts — Audubon is one example in the area — are simply announcing that they are beginning classes earlier than usual. Governor Kim Reynolds waived the earliest allowable first day of school so that districts that want to return early can.

When asked about these options, Croghan stated it would be a “logistical nightmare” to make something like that happen because of contracts.

“Some people make statements like that but then you have to pay people. You’re under this year’s contract but what they’re doing is borrowing days from this year for next year’s contract. That’s a logistics nightmare because they’re technically under contract for 190 days. It would be a breach of contract,” Croghan said. “Long story short, you can say what you want but it’s not going to happen.”

In the meeting, Board President Maureen Lonsdale encouraged everyone present to think “outside the box” as the district moves through this process.