Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — The six districts that make up the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District continue to develop plans for educating students after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with remote learning expected to get underway in the coming weeks.
The required “continuity of learning plan” each district is developing are part of the executive order Whitmer issued Thursday closing all K-12 school buildings for the rest of the school year.
GOISD Superintendent Alan Tulppo said he met with the various administrative teams Monday to continue the discussion regarding the continuity of learning plans.
“We discussed a wide range of topics, mostly focusing on how we’re going to deliver content to students and how we’re going to keep students engaged in the content,” Tulppo said.
He explained the districts have to submit the plans to the GOISD for approval before they are forwarded to state officials. Following state approval of the plans, Tulppo said the districts will be able to continue receiving their funding as normal.
The approval process can formally begin this week and plans have to be in effect by April 28, according to Tulppo, with a formula based on the number of snow days already taken used to determine the exact deadline for individual districts.
“I really foresee this being a relatively smooth process to get the plans approved and in place,” Tulppo said.
Although there will likely be some similarities, Tulppo said each district’s plan will also be designed to reflect its unique situation and needs.
One of the challenges the districts face is how best to deliver the content to the students, with not everyone having internet access away from school.
Tulppo said some students will be able to access the material online, while others will likely receive it in printed learning packets.
Regardless of internet availability, he said all students will maintain two-way communication with teachers.
“They’ll still have interaction with their teachers, it just won’t be virtual in those cases,” he said, referring to the students who use the packets. “They won’t see each other, it will be more via telephone.”
Wakefield-Marenisco Superintendent Jason Gustafson said he met with his district’s staff Monday to update them and get their ideas on how best to communicate with students.
“It varies, of course, by content area and grade level,” Gustafson said.
He said the district’s plan — which he said he planned to submit to the GOISD Tuesday afternoon — includes using email, Google Classroom, Zoom meetings and other online resources; as well as using the bus drivers to deliver paper packets to the families who prefer that so they don’t have to enter the school. He said the packets won’t be returned to the school and staff will communicate with students over the phone to monitor their progress as an added protection to minimize the chance of spreading the virus through the packets.
If the approval process goes smoothly, Gustafson said he hopes the district can begin teaching remotely around April 13.
Ironwood Superintendent Travis Powell said the district is also in the process of finalizing its plan and hoped to submit it to the GOISD Tuesday. He said the timeline for the state’s approval process will determine when the district is able to resume teaching.
The GOISD is also working to provide additional internet access, according to Tulppo, and is in the process of deploying two units to provide free wireless internet at scheduled times.
“These units will park at specified locations and be able to provide free wireless internet to students and families,” he said, explaining families will be able to park within a certain distance of the vehicle containing the unit and use it to access the internet.
Along with working out the logistics around remote learning, Tulppo said the GOISD’s biggest concern was the social and emotional wellbeing of the students.
“This is hard on kids. This was a sudden closure, there wasn’t a lot of warning for them — or their families or parents — to prepare them for what was going to happen,” he said.
He also said he was very proud of the member districts for providing meals and finding ways to communicate with students and families
“The teachers, the staff and our local districts have really risen to the occasion,” Tulppo said. “And they’ll continue to do that as we start providing learning opportunities for students.”
