Fayette County to begin in remote learning Tuesday

Teachers and staff in Fayette County will have to wait a little longer to be physically reunited with students they've largely been away from in a classroom setting since March.

Schools in Fayette County will be among those beginning the 2020-21 school term remotely due to the fallout from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Last Saturday, Fayette was among the West Virginia counties in orange on the weekly statewide map which dictates participation in classes and extracurricular activities for the next week. Counties in the orange classification have between 10 and 24.9 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in a rolling seven-day window. Fayette County dipped briefly into yellow (3.1 to 9.9 cases per 100,000) late this week, but the county's status on the 9 p.m. map on Saturday, Sept. 5, which will drive scenarios for the opening week of school, ultimately remained unchanged from last Saturday's map.

Fayette is one of eight West Virginia counties, all in the southern half of the state, to currently be in orange status, which indicates heightened community transmission. Monongalia is the lone county in red, which indicates substantial community transmission.

Since Fayette stayed in orange on Saturday, school instruction will begin remotely on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and all students will work from home for at least the first week. Extracurricular teams can practice but not participate in sanctioned activities involving other schools.

Fayette County Schools Superintendent Gary Hough says he will issue a call Sunday about when and how families can obtain devices and other information they will need to initiate remote learning on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Also, school principals will issue messenger calls on Monday. "They need to listen to those announcements; that's extremely important."

Also, students and family members are urged to visit the school system's website (https://www.boe.faye.k12.wv.us/), Facebook page or Twitter feed for crucial details about the re-entry situation.

"We have a couple different options" on delivery of remote learning materials to families, Hough said. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, between noon and 3 p.m. and 5 and 7 p.m., parents will come and pick up their remote devices, as well as instructions on how to use them, he noted. That activity will require some paperwork. If parents or guardians don't get the chance to come to their schools on Tuesday, representatives from the school system will follow up with them on Wednesday.

"We have downloadable (learning) capabilities which will be delivered," the superintendent said.

From 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, all students, including virtual and home school, can pick up meal packs at their schools. "We will even travel out to some," said Hough.

Hough reminds people "it's a fluid situation." He asks for their patience. "Please be patient. It's going to take us a couple days to work through all of the (situations). It is about being patient as we go through the process. I think all of us are entering into a new world that they never entered into before. I think there will probably be some concerns on people's part and, needless to say, some concerns even on my part."

FCS originally planned to undertake a blended learning model for the first two weeks before planning to go back into regular five-day school after that, provided the Covid-19 case numbers allow.

Around 1,850 students are enrolled in virtual school in the county for the first term.

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At least one Fayette teacher, Midland Trail High math teacher Milburn Pack, feels the county's teachers are poised to handle remote teaching delivery this fall.

"We are going to be so much more prepared for remote learning as we move forward," Pack said. "We have a powerful platform, Schoology, in which to deliver lessons, instruction and resources. We will be using Microsoft Teams to communicate with our students in both audio and video.

"I am excited for our students. Anytime that you must go through trials, you want to come out on the other side better from the challenges faced. We are certainly more prepared, and our students will be as well.

"I teach high school students. The exposure to this new educational environment will hold every individual more accountable. The students will appreciate the flexibility of their schedule, while still having hard deadlines and a need for organization and self-discipline. They will leave our halls being far more proficient to face the challenges of the technological world in which we live."

When schools statewide closed due to Covid-19 in March and remote learning was required, a new learning process began for teachers and students alike.

"The most important things that I learned were how to quickly shift my priorities," Pack said. "I learned how important our schools are to our communities. I think we, as educators, immediately recognized our need to provide for our students' basic needs and developed a plan to accomplish meeting those.

"Unfortunately, we also learned that we weren't prepared to continue a quality education outside the brick-and-mortar setting. Many of our students did not have access to internet or technology devices. However, we did understand that this was a great opportunity to focus our students' attentions on the 'life lessons' presented to us all."

​He admitted learning suffered some. "Again, the structured teaching and learning process came to a near halt. We did have online programs that the students had been accustomed to using; however, with internet access being an issue for so many, opportunities were limited. We developed paper pencil lessons to distribute. We also immediately began directing our attentions toward preparing for the upcoming school year and how to address the learning gaps that were being created from Covid-19 early dismissal.

"​The takeaway from this has been incredible," he continued. "The state, county and local school administrators have worked tirelessly during the spring and summer to assure our preparedness. Teachers have had meetings and professional development throughout this time. We have all become more adept in utilizing technology to incorporate in our classrooms or to deliver personal and high-quality online education tailored for our students."

Overall, recent months have admittedly "been difficult on parents and families," Pack said. "I know we are all longing for some sense of normalcy. I expect we will have a new normal moving forward. It may not be what we desire, but I truly believe from an educational standpoint we have been forced to grow in a positive direction. Our students will adapt and thrive this upcoming year.

"I would remind all involved to remember that education has always been ever-changing, and we will have some glitches along the way. We all, administrators, educators, students and parents, need to be patient and flexible. I'm excited about this year. Challenges are always opportunity to grow and learn. West Virginians are resilient, but we're also slow to change. Covid-19 has forced change. Let's embrace the change and make the most of the opportunities set before us."

Email: skeenan@register-herald.com or follow on Twitter @gb_scribe