Decorah School Superintendent Mark Lane "hits the pause button" on Return to Learn plan

Posted: Tue, Jul 14, 2020 10:32 AM

Decorah School Superintendent Mark Lane believes it is appropriate to take a small break before making any major decisions about the Return to Learn program. "I've postponed a couple of meetings this week rather than bringing committees together. To hit a pause button and wait to see what the guidance says is something I want us to do and then move forward from there."

Lane is anticipating guidance to come from the state, either the Department of Education or the governor, that will be prescriptive about what the state wants schools to do. He expects the guidance to come either Thursday, July 16th or Tuesday, July 21st. Lane noted that other districts in Iowa have already publicized their plans for the fall. But he strongly believes that waiting for more directive guidance is best. In the meantime, Lane and other superintendents from neighboring school districts continue to meet with the Keystone Superintendent group on a weekly basis.

While the district waits for any updates to guidelines from the state, it has already accumulated lots of information from local parent surveys. Lane shared many pie graphs highlighting the spectrum of comfort that parents feel about topics such as sending students back to school, participating in hybrid learning, and allowing bus transportation.

The surveys have been well received by the district's families with close to 600 responses. One pie graph showed that of 553 responses, 67.1 percent of parents prefer full onsite learning while 27.6 percent prefer a hybrid of onsite and remote learning. Of 560 responses, 70 percent of parents feel comfortable sending students back to school, 27.1 percent are not sure, and 2.9 percent are against it.

In terms of students riding school transportation, 539 surveys were returned, showing 58.6 percent of parents feel comfortable sending kids on the school bus, 26.7 percent are unsure, and 14.7 percent of parents were opposed.

It is important to note that the surveys have been out for quite a few weeks, and, as numbers change with the number of cases of COVID-19, these percentages are likely to change as well.

Board member Krista Vanden Brink summarized it all, saying "It's kind of an ever changing target. What's happening locally isn't necessarily happening other places locally. There's a lot of concern. We want to open schools safely and responsibly. It's going to be an interesting ride here. Put on your seat belts and strap in tight!"