Huntingdon Schools suspend in-person learning for the first time this school year

Huntingdon Special School District is making Monday and Tuesday remote learning days for its students after an “uptick” in coronavirus cases in the community, resulting in a lot of quarantines among staff, according to superintendent Pat Dillahunty.

This is the first time all school year that the district has had to suspend in-person learning, which had a delayed Aug. 17 start for its three schools.

“The quarantines put a lot of my people out, and it was getting hard to find subs (substitute teachers) and cover (their classes),” Dillahunty said.

Making Thanksgiving break five consecutive days will be helpful, she said.

The need for subs has been an issue for many districts, including those in Jackson-Madison County and Gibson County.

Addressing the need for subs: taking it day by day

It’s a difficult task to address a lack of subs amid high numbers of staff having to quarantine.

“Every day’s different,” the superintendent said. “We do the best we can.”

So far, they’ve covered classes by rotating other teachers during their planning times, much like Gibson County Special School District did before it had to suspend in-person learning.

Some educators have taught from home so their students see and engage with them even while a sub is in the room.

Dillahunty called it the “all hands on deck” approach to address teachers being out.

But as quarantine numbers increased this week, it was hard to do, so Dillahunty made the decision to extend Thanksgiving break.

Jackson-Madison County School District also extended its Thanksgiving break because of increased community spread of the coronavirus as did GCSSD for two of its schools because of staff quarantines.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” she said. “We’re learning as we go.”

Meeting challenges

All students, pre-k through twelfth grade, have devices in the district. The district will still face a challenge this coming Monday and Tuesday because not all students have internet access.

Those students – identified by communication with their teachers – will get paper packets.

“Our teachers have been working really, really hard to get what children need into their hands," Dillahunty said of her staff. 

Devices do have the capability of saving completed work that can be uploaded once students are back at school or around internet.

“I know everyone is struggling in our community of Carroll County,” Dillahunty said. “We’ve been proud that we’ve been able to stay in-person. We just felt that with three days already scheduled to be out, (the two additional days at home) would give us a week to recoup, come back and do what we need to do."

Lasherica Thornton is The Jackson Sun's education reporter. Reach her at 731-343-9133 or by email atlthornton@jacksonsun.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LashericaT