Some in-person learning better than none, superintendent says

Since secondary grades in Cloquet switched to hybrid learning — attending classes in person every third day and distance learning the rest — the schools have seen an uptick in the number of students switching to distance learning.

That’s a concern, superintendent Micheal Cary told school board members in Monday’s regular board meeting.

“When kids transition to full distance learning, even though we’re doing a good job, we do tend to see poorer results,” Cary said. “As an educator, I would really urge families, it’s important to keep your children attending and engaged. I think there are some things you can do live while you’re one-on-one with a teacher that are just hard to do via distance that are really important for kids’ learning.

“The reason the state put a hybrid model in place is because they realize how important in-person instruction is,” he added.

While grades 5-12 have been in hybrid learning since Oct. 7 in Cloquet, so far the county health numbers for Carlton County have remained low enough to allow elementary school students to continue going to school in person every day.

Following Monday’s meeting, Cary said that number is a guideline from the state, but the districts have some wiggle room. He would not recommend moving elementary students to hybrid learning if there is a small increase in the number of people sick, even if it did send the number over the state’s recommended limit.

“Up to now, seven weeks in, we haven’t seen any spread in our schools — that’s not where the spread is happening,” Cary said. “The data shows the precautions are effective when followed, which the schools are doing. If you take the kids out of a place where (the guidelines are) working, will that make it worse?”

As of Monday, Cloquet high school had a total of six Covid cases since the school year began, including two new cases. All the other schools have had five or fewer cases, and no new cases as of Monday.

On Monday, the school board also heard a presentation on the audit, which revealed that the district finances were better than projected for fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30. Jackie Knowles of BerganKDV informed the board that instead of the expected $212,000 deficit, the district was down only $44,000. (Deficits are paid out of reserve funds.) Revenues were up about 1 percent in the last fiscal year, and the state formula for students was increased by 2 percent. There were also numerous savings (on substitutes, transportation, supplies, etc.) due to the schools going to distance learning the last two months of the school year. The accounting firm offered an unmodified opinion (the best it’s able to offer) on the district’s financial statements.

Also Monday, school board members:

• Closed all grades to open enrollment Monday, despite a slight drop in enrollment this fall. Cary recommended the move, he said, to provide more stability. “The staff are already dealing with a lot of transition this year,” he said.

• Approved the winter bus routes for walkers. This will be the second year in a row that the school district provides bus pickup for student walkers during the coldest months. This year the bus will pick up and drop off Washington elementary students first, then run the route again to pick up middle and high school students. The bus route for walkers won’t begin until the weather gets cold enough, Cary said, adding that it isn’t an exact science. Last year it began in mid-December, just in time for a cold snap that sent temperatures to minus 15 degrees. Parents will receive a message via Infinite Campus when the winter route is beginning.

• Hired winter sports coaches. The only change for head coaches was the hire of Katie Keller as One Act Play director for this year. Under the terms of the contracts, if the sports or activities don’t take place, the coaches won’t be paid. If they take place for less than half a season, the coaches will get half pay, and full pay if the season or activity makes it past the halfway point.