OKLAHOMA CITY — In light of the novel coronavirus’ continued spread, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday morning to move public school instruction to distance learning for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year.
Every school district is required to submit a distance learning plan for approval to the state Department of Education for approval, with instruction to start by April 6. Each local school district will determine its end date, but it must offer coursework in some form through at least May 8.
“I’ve heard from a lot of students personally who are just devastated that they won't get to finish out the school year,” state school board member Jennifer Monies said. “I know it’s hard. It’s hard on parents from all walks of life. I know the weight of this decision does not go unnoticed by this board. However, given the emphasis and need to protect the health of students and staff, I feel like we have to do to move online and get educational instruction to students as best we can.
In order to address student needs and community resources, state officials acknowledged those plans will look wildly different among the more than 500 districts across Oklahoma.
Surveys have been sent out to district leaders to ascertain community internet access, although school board officials reiterate repeatedly that distance learning does not automatically mean online-only instruction. On Thursday, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority announced a partnership with the state Department of Education to air curriculum-based programming from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting Monday through mid-May.
Additionally, as part of Wednesday's meeting, a waiver was approved to allow school districts to use state textbook funds to cover the costs associated with transitioning to distance learning, such as extra paper copies of instructional materials.
“We will provide more support at the state level and have asked for additional support at the federal level,” State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said.
“If this pandemic under-scores anything, it’s that we must care for one another, help one another and love one another. This is one way to do that right now."
As worded, the order explicitly calls for the suspension of all school-sponsored extracurricular activities and for all school buildings to be closed other than for essential services. Those services include maintenance, security, student enrollment, staff to provide or facilitate distance learning for students and child nutrition. The order also extends to all charter schools, regardless of who the sponsor is, whether they are brick and mortar or already entirely online.
With in-person instruction suspended for the remainder of the academic year, the board also waived the statutory calendar requirements for the number of hours or days students must be in school. In a typical school year, students are required to be in school for at least six hours per day and academic calendars must be at least either 1,080 instructional hours or 180 days long.
A waiver was also granted regarding student attendance and funding level. Normally, attendance is a factor when determining per pupil funding To avoid penalizing districts, the state school board will rely on attendance figures through March 12, which was the Thursday prior to spring break.
Although the state-issued school district report cards will not be issued for the 2019-2020 school year, Hofmeister made a point to note that individual student report cards will still be issued by school districts and districts do not have the option to just call it a school year.
“We are not going to allow districts to say, ‘This is too much. We’re done,’” she said.
State officials noted that the lead time between the closure vote and the start of remote classes is in part to allow districts' time to make the transition. With the State Department of Education not uploading its formal framework recommendations until Friday, many area districts are still working out specifics
Brad Clark, the general counsel for the state school board, confirmed via email that districts do not have an appeal avenue for individual parts of the schoolboard’s order, such as the suspension of extracurricular activities or restrictions on who is allowed in school buildings.
“This decision was based in the powers vested in the State Board of Education pursuant to the Oklahoma Constitution and statutes of the State of Oklahoma, considering the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma school children and the professionals who work in support of them,” he said. “As provided in the order and has been consistent all along, the State Department of Education and State Board of Education will continuously monitor this all and update the order as appropriate and deemed necessary.”