MUSD OKs return to classrooms, distance learning option

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Menifee Union School District will resume on-campus instruction when the new school year begins Aug. 12, with a distance learning option available for families who prefer that their students remain at home.

This recommendation was made Tuesday to school administrators by the MUSD Governing Board and will be formalized at an upcoming board meeting as details are worked out. Proposals for three learning options were presented to board members, who chose not to include a blended classroom/distance learning model as a choice for families.

Parents must choose which of these two options to enroll their students in for the upcoming school year:

-- A traditional classroom model, with students on campus five days a week as usual. Modifications will be made for health and safety reasons, including spacing of desks; designated time for hand washing; staggered recess; school supplies that are not passed back and forth among students; and extra custodial cleaning. Wearing of face masks will be optional.

-- A “Distance Learning +” model, which will be much more structured than the distance learning program that was used for all students from mid-March through early June. Specific teachers would be assigned to teach distance learning to students who learn remotely five days a week, with teachers available via online office hours.

These two learning models closely resemble two of the three options presented by state and county authorities as school re-opening plans during the COVID-19 outbreak. MUSD board members rejected as not practical a third option, which would have sent students to school two days a week, with distance learning at home the other three days.

Dr. Kimberly Huesing, assistant superintendent of educational services, told board members that based on their input in Tuesday’s meeting, additional details on both learning options would be available on the MUSD website in the next few days. A link for parents to register their students for the distance learning program will be available starting Thursday, she said.

It’s necessary for that registration to begin immediately so school officials can determine the size of enrollment in that program. In an online survey conducted by MUSD, 16 percent of parents favored a distance learning program for their students and 19 percent of teachers preferred to teach in that method.

“I would have a lot of concerns if we tried to take on all three learning models at once,” said Jackie Johansen, a longtime teacher and president of the MUSD board. “With the online learning, people were forced into it because of COVID-19. But some students thrived in that learning model. Other parents want to keep their students in distance learning for their safety. So I think it's important to build that program as an option.

“Then there’s the traditional model. I’ve talked to a lot of teachers and parents who say, ‘We need to have traditional learning back.' We have teachers saying, ‘I know some of my kids are slipping [in distance learning].’ We have grandparents who were thrust into helping students who say, ‘I didn’t plan for this and we need the students in school.’ We have single parents who say, ‘Who will watch my kids during the day?’

“My direction would be to focus on these two learning models. Parents and teachers have a choice.”

Details of the distance learning program must still be worked out, but Huesing said it would look much different than the method used so far during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forced to adjust quickly, teachers reacted to teaching distance learning on the fly differently this spring, with some monitoring student performance more closely than others.

In the Distance Learning + program, all students would be required to complete a set of assignments on a regular basis and standard assessments would also be given online. Board members – including two teachers, Johansen and Reg Bennett – stressed the point that students should not be required to sit in front of a computer for six hours a day at home. Rather, material would be presented in an organized manner using videos and graphics that could be replayed several times by students at their convenience to reinforce learning.

“Distance learning is not forcing students to sit at a computer for six hours straight; I would consider that abusive,” Johansen said. “I see parts of the program as being asynchronous. A teacher would make a video, the kids would watch it, and any that struggle with the concept can back up and see it over and over, then ask questions if needed. The kids who get it right away don’t have to wait for others before they can move on.”

Board members also said they believe that building a strong distance learning model could be beneficial in the future.

“I think that in the long run, there could be a benefit to certain students, and that it could be used even after COVID-19,” Bennett said.

Board member Bob O’Donnell made the point that many parents of younger elementary school students would prefer to have their students return to traditional learning. “They need the socialization and they want to be with their teacher,” he said.

A major point of discussion for the traditional learning model was the health and safety factor in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Board members agreed that making the use of face masks optional was the only practical way to follow state and county guidelines as closely as possible.

“The county has left that decision up to the districts,” Huesing said. “It would be a family decision. I know the issue of masks is a very sensitive subject in our community. Adults feel their students should be protected.”

Johansen asked that a clause be inserted into the traditional learning model language stating that teachers, schools and the district not be held liable for whether students wear masks.

“What if a student takes off the mask and I tell them they have to put it back on because their parents say so?” Johansen asked. “The child goes home and tells their parents they had trouble breathing but the teacher said to put it back on. Or on the other side, the teacher doesn’t force a student who’s supposed to wear a mask to wear one, the parents find out, and they're livid.

“As a teacher, I can’t monitor whether Sarah wears her sweater all day. Monitoring like that takes the teacher’s focus away from instruction. If they wear a mask, the liability lies with the family.”

All board members agreed with the inclusion of such language in the traditional learning model.

“We must make it crystal clear to parents that the district is not held liable if a child takes off the mask,” said board member Kyle Root.

Huesing said students who are enrolled in the distance learning program would be required to commit to it for at least one semester. Students who prefer to switch back to the traditional model may be allowed to do so as long as there is open space in a classroom.

Parents are advised to check the MUSD website for frequent updates on both learning programs.

Administrators of the Romoland School District and Perris Union High School District are considering the same three learning model options but have not yet announced their decision for the coming school year. PUHSD has a board meeting this afternoon and the Romoland School District announced on its website that a decision would be made by July 1.