Remote learning responsibilities stretching Mt. Pleasant teachers District looks at two online vendors to provide service

With more than 140 students opting for remote learning, the Mt. Pleasant school district has found its teachers stretched thin.

Director of Instruction Katie Gavin reported to the school board Monday that 31 percent of the district's teachers are having to put it time beyond their contract time in order to provide remote instruction.

She said that the majority of those teachers are elementary school teachers.

Superintendent John Henriksen said that the disparity is due, in part, to the fact that there was no elementary school content or curriculum when the district started remote learning.

'They had to produce that,” Henriksen said.

He called the district's current model for remote learning unsustainable.

'We realize that the model, if we continue to do this, is not a sustainable model,” he said. 'When we started this, our plan was to serve medically fragile kids. That's how we put the model together.”

He said that the challenge came when the district opened remote learning to all students.

'The decision was made to serve all kids, so we scrambled,” he said. 'It's been a challenge. We're looking at alternatives.”

Henriksen said that district officials are meeting with two online education companies – Edgenuity and Edmentum.

'We're talking to two different vendors for online curriculum that could be set up in a couple of different ways,” he said.

The companies have Iowa certified teachers and curriculums that meet state standards but do not necessarily line up exactly with the district's curriculum.

'We asked our remote learning parents how important is it that you have a Mt. Pleasant curriculum,” Henriksen said.

Gavin added, 'That's a big part of the conversations I've had with these vendors.”