Even as some school districts have announced plans to stop classes early as the coronavirus pandemic lingers, the Gainesville City School System will continue online learning for students through May 20. However, as Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Williams said last week, the focus will shift to make sure students are as prepared as they can be for the next school year.
"When you come back from spring break normally, you're looking at the Milestones prep, AP testing, the field trips, the field days, all of the end-of-the-year activities, but that's not going to happen traditionally like it has in the past," Williams said. "So, what we're doing is shifting some of our focus."
From last Monday through May 1, the focus is on making sure students are ready academically to enter the next grade, even though they've lost weeks of in-classroom learning time.
"We're focusing the most attention on our kids who need us the most, so if we have students who are off-track, whether that's credit recovery or early intervention or special education, we're going to put a little bit more attention on them...while continuing to support our students who are on-track," Williams said.
All students will be required to complete and submit assignments by Friday, May 1. That will give teachers time to assess which students need additional help or which students may need a chance to re-do work that was unsatisfactory.
According to a statement released last week by the school system, all students in grades K-8 will receive a grade of either Pass or Fail in each course in which they are enrolled, other than middle school students who are enrolled in high school courses. Those students and high school students will receive a numeric grade for each high school course.
Williams said system officials want to support students in any way they can, especially since families had no control over the closure of schools.
"We want to make sure we're not punishing kids because of the resources they don't have at home. They may have a laptop, but they may have four other siblings who also need that laptop. There may be families who don't have internet," Williams said. "We understand that the way a grade book has looked in the past is not quite the way it's going to look this year. As I told the staff in an email the other day, an unprecedented time calls for unprecedented understanding."
Because there will be limited opportunities for summer learning, Williams said it's even more important to make sure students will be as prepared as possible for the upcoming school year. In addition, he anticipates teachers will need additional professional learning to make accommodations for students in the fall.
The Gainesville City School Board will hold an online meeting Monday, April 20 at 4 p.m. and is expected to get a status update on the remainder of the school year.
Williams said students and parents will receive additional information on school plans no later than Friday, April 24. All notices are available at the Gainesville City School System website.
