All K-2 students in RSU 21 will begin attending classes four days a week on May 6. A full, five-day-a-week in-person program for pre-K through 12 is planned for the school year that begins in September. Tammy Wells photo

KENNEBUNK – Regional School Unit 21 students in kindergarten through grade 2 will attend classes in person four days a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, starting May 6.

Superintendent Terri Cooper made the announcement at an RSU 21 School Board meeting on Wednesday and also outlined plans for five-days-per-week in-classroom instruction starting in September.

Students in RSU 21 have been in a hybrid program, which provides for two days of in-school instruction weekly, with the remaining days in remote learning, since the fall of 2020.

The decision to open schools four days a week for the district’s youngest learners came as a bit of a surprise to parents and teachers. Cooper, in a February letter to families, said the hybrid model would continue to the end of the year. But there have been recent changes in quarantine guidelines for classrooms, staff are able to be vaccinated, and it was a change that could be made safely, with the least disruption to the school operation and no increase in staff, Cooper said.

Cooper conferred with principals about the spring, four-day plan over the April 3-4 weekend.

“One thing we promised you, is we would constantly reassess our situation,” said Cooper, in part. She said the school district realizes that remote learning by computer is not productive for the youngest students.

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Cooper said she has been questioned all along, and has heard from those who want more in-school time for students and those who don’t. She said safety has been at the forefront.

“Our youngest students have struggled,” said RSU 21 School Board chair Art LeBlanc. While Middle School of the Kennebunks closed April 1-9  because of the number of close contacts to people  who had tested positive, LeBlanc  said to his knowledge, there had been no record of transmission of COVID-19 in the schools. He noted that K-2 students have suffered the most in the hybrid model.

The district had previously worked out several possible plans for various scenarios.

Parent Nick Pelletier asked if the four-day spring plan would mean changes to students’ homeroom teachers.

Cooper explained that if a parent who had a student in Cohort A and wanted to move to Cohort C, that would be a reassignment. She said, otherwise, the goal is to keep the current teacher and student pairings.

“My first grader hates doing school on the computer and loves her teacher and friends, this is a positive thing for us,” said parent Leah Cook. “Kids at that age can adapt to anything, they will love being in school more.”

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Cook also outlined what she saw as a need for more guidance counselors for older students and other supports to address mental health issues, which was also expressed Wednesday by some parents.

Parent Kristin Graczyk thanked Cooper for the decision to return the younger students to school this spring – she said her kindergarten student would be happy – and suggested the schools might need another nurse to float through the schools because of added tasks.

Board member Ira Camp said he believes the superintendent is on the right track.

“Tough decisions need to be made sometimes, and she is making them,” Camp said of Cooper. “This has been an incredibly tough year for people … there is a lot of frustration from a lot of different angles. Remember we are all trying to do the best we can.”

Board member Sarah Dore said the abrupt change to the spring schedule surprised her, and noted the teacher’s union hadn’t had a chance to weigh in on the plan and had been recently told there would be no change.

Kennebunk, Arundel, Kennebunkport Education Association president Jenessa Cadorette said K-2 teachers were notified on Monday, April 5 that a change was imminent, but that the education association had not been consulted on the plan, despite a meeting with Cooper and Assistant Superintendent Meg Parkhurst a week earlier. Cadorette said a survey of elementary teachers showed 85 percent wanted to remain with the hybrid model, and 15 percent believed the change should be made. She said a meeting with 40 elementary school teachers earlier that day resulted in teachers feeling now was not the time to make the change, and among other issues, said there were concerns about schedule disruptions, logistics and equity. Cadorette said the district needs to focus time preparing for September “and getting it right on Day 1.”

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Cooper said she plans to communicate with the association.

Parent Jen Lyons said there is currently no opportunity for parents to see and participate in what is going on in schools and suggested in planning for the fall, perhaps vaccinated parent volunteers could return to help out in schools.

Parent Erin O’Reilly Jaken read a letter from her son, third grader Connor. She said her son wrote the letter on his own, unprompted.

“I do not like hybrid learning days. It’s hard to sit still and pay attention. Third grade is hard. I don’t want to do it anymore but it’s my job.,” he wrote, in part. “Can you make it so I can go to school five days in the fall?”

“He is a good student, and he wants to be in school,” his mother said.

Cooper outlined the fall plan.

Considering current guidelines from the CDC, Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, school buildings are being examined for space requirements, staffing, modifying schedules, and more for the five-day plan in September. Cooper said that in all likelihood, the students currently in grade 2 at Kennebunk Elementary School would likely remain there for grade 3. There could be other changes, she noted.

“Let me be very clear, we’re planning for five days if in-person instruction, pre-K to 12 (in September),” said Cooper. The fall plan includes five days of in-person starting on the first week, and at that point, the hybrid system will no longer be an option. She said the district is looking at a remote option, perhaps in a county-wide model.

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