Schools across region open virtual classrooms

A grand and hurried experiment in education began this week in Minnesota, as schools around the state implemented distance learning for K-12 students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teachers and administrators across Carlton County had two weeks to come up with a plan for distance learning, which is not necessarily the same thing as online learning - rather, it refers to learning away from school.

In Cloquet, that meant lessons on paper for elementary school students (K-grade 4) - delivered by school bus or picked up at school on Tuesdays or Wednesdays - and digital learning for students in grades 5-12, delivered online. All students in grades 5-12 already have a school-issued tablet or laptop computer.

At the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School, the school has provided iPads for all students to use at home. For this week the school is using a combination of paper-and-pencil activities along with online learning. That will give the students and staff an easier transition to online learning, school officials said.

Teachers in the Cromwell-Wright school district are providing daily lessons, instruction and tests through weekly delivery or electronic means, or a combination of the two. According to the district website, all work that is not transmitted electronically will be delivered and returned every Monday via school transportation.

In other area districts, the plans are similar. Many younger children will still do more with paper and pencil, while older students will do more work online. Each school district was required by the state to post its district learning plans on its website.

"This is uncharted territory for all of us; however, we are learning together and there will undoubtedly be things that will need to be tweaked and adjusted along the way," Cromwell-Wright superintendent Nathan Libbon wrote to families. "I'm asking for your patience and partnership. Help us understand what is working and what isn't, and please come alongside us and actively participate in your child's education."

One of the biggest challenges for school districts with the transition to distance learning was figuring out how to help students who do not have broadband internet access at home.

The Fond du Lac Ojibwe School is working closely with Fond du Lac information technology to provide phones with unlimited data, and hotspots to students who do not have internet access.

In Wrenshall, the district provided Chromebooks and hotspots to students who needed them, as the district is not yet 1:1 with electronic devices.

In Cloquet, the solution to that problem cost the district more than $17,000, superintendent Michael Cary told the Cloquet school board Monday.

Although traditional hotspot devices were sold out across the country, Cary said AT&T turned old iPhones into wireless hotspots, allowing students to connect to the internet through the phones. The district paid 99 cents each for 170 iPhone hotspots, and $17,000 for the cost of two months of service.

"That way we could make sure 200 kids (some are siblings and can share the hotspot) have access to the same teaching and learning as their peers," Cary said.

At Cloquet's Monday meeting, board chair Ted Lammi praised district staff and administration for "getting done so expeditiously," considering staff actually had only about 3-4 days of work without students to plan, because the district was on spring break last week and those were not contracted work days.

"We've been talking about online learning for about three years, and you and your staff had three days," Lammi joked.

Cary agreed, pointing out that the district was unable to implement an eLearning plan for snow days this winter, because it hadn't announced a plan in advance. But then they had two weeks or less to come up with a plan to transition for a much longer period of time.

Cary said it's critical that families who don't have email access or internet at home call the office at their child's school to make arrangements for a hotspot if needed, and to make sure they know how things are going and figure out the best way for the district to communicate with them. Parents should also call if their elementary school student's homework is not on the bus if they live along a bus route, to clear up any confusion.

Each school district is required to deliver lunch to its students daily, or supply to-go lunches on-site for students who normally walk to school. In Cloquet, that means about 1,500 meals a day, Cary said.

"I've been thoroughly impressed by every group of employees and their dedication," he said.