Absent teachers, not students, led to Mt. Pleasant change

MT. PLEASANT - Mt. Pleasant Community School District's decision this week for its middle school to switch to a hybrid instructional model through Nov. 30 was prompted by staffing issues.

Superintendent John Henriksen said the middle school was facing staffing shortages due to positive coronavirus cases and was down 10 (out of 33) staff members on Wednesday when the district made the decision.

'Continuing trying to cover classrooms as is, really wasn't sustainable,” he said,

By going hybrid, Henriksen said the school would be better able to practice social distancing with fewer students in each classroom and would allow more noncore content teachers to help supervise classes through the quarantine period for teachers who are currently out.

Henriksen added that as the shortage has occurred teaching assistants with substitute authorization have stepped up to cover classrooms, but the use of those substitutes takes the educators away from the special education students they are assigned to. Switching to hybrid allows the school to better meet the needs of both general education and special education students.

Henriksen, who participated in a Zoom meeting with other Great Prairie District superintendents yesterday reported other districts are facing a similar issue.

'It's the adults, not kids … our attendance remains high - 97 to 98 percent,” he said.

The superintendent added the staffing issue is unique to the middle school building. Henriksen said all elementary school buildings have been fully staffed this week and the high school building has five or fewer staff members who have tested positive.

'The staffing patterns at the elementary at the high school have been much better. We're prepared to go hybrid if we need to but thought the best approach was to be focused in our approach,” he said.

Henriksen added he fully expects the middle school to return to regularly scheduled classes on Nov. 30.

'The idea is that teachers we have who are positive are going to finish up their isolation and quarantine and be ready to come back to work. And we will be as fully staffed as we can be,” he said.

The switch comes as Henry County sees a rise in cases. As of noon on Thursday, the county had a rate of 20.6 percent of people tested for COVID testing positive, a rate across a 14-day average, according to the state coronavirus website.

'We are definitely concerned. We're really encouraging staff members, because of the critical role they play, outside of work, to please be diligent about wearing face coverings and practicing good mitigation strategies,” Henriksen said.

The superintendent added the district is committed to staying face-to-face as safely and as long as it can.

'I believe the schools play a really important role in the community in general,” he said.

Henriksen noted face-to-face is the 'best education” the district can provide students and pointed to other services the district provides including the summer hot lunch program, which serves each student two free meals every day, and the strain on child care should the district go to a remote learning model.

'What we do affects a lot of people. If we can continue to bring kids to school safely, it means families are not scrambling for child care. That's really, really important for people needing to go to work, essential workers who need to serve people at this time,” he said.

'I'm very aware of that and the critical role the district plays in not only in educating, but in the broader community,” he added.