Proctor School District Leaders Seek Balance, Parents Vocalize Pushback
School districts throughout the country are struggling to maintain the balance between bringing kids back to school and keeping them safe from COVID-19. Proctor School District is in the same dilemma as some parents are vocalizing their thoughts on the issue.
PROCTOR, Minn. – School districts throughout the country are struggling to maintain the balance between bringing kids back to school and keeping them safe from COVID-19. Proctor School District is in the same dilemma as some parents are vocalizing their thoughts on the issue.
The plan, for now, is for proctor schools to bring pre-K to grade 5 back to hybrid learning on January 26th while middle and high school students will continue with distance learning with some exceptions, meaning kids that have technical education classes like construction, welding, and culinary arts will be able to come into the schools.
This all comes as there is tremendous pressure on district leaders to get kids back in schools.
“It’s a hard hard time for school districts to make decisions like this,” said John Engelking, the superintendent of Proctor School District. “And we know that we have parents that want their kids in schools, and so do we. But it’s incumbent on school districts to look at a multiple of things.”
Proctor School District officials met with leaders from the Department of Health and Department of Education on Thursday, and guidance from both groups recommended for Proctor students to stay in distance learning due to the infection rates.
According to Superintendent John Engelking, the area is at a rate of over 70 when it comes to the number of cases per 10,000 over 14 days by county of residence. Distance learning is recommended for areas with a rate of more than 50.
Now the district hopes infection rates continue to go down as it has recently.
“There’s no playbook,” said Engelking. “We’re in this to make sure that we get this right. And making mistakes and not getting it right can be pretty dangerous.”
More than 500 Proctor parents are in a Facebook group called Proctor Parents for In-School Learning. They say several families in the district have chosen to transfer their students to neighboring schools to take advantage of opportunities for in-person instruction.
“The district has voiced to parents that they want to bring kids back to an in-person learning model. I’m not sure that they’re particularly motivated to do that,” said Tara Talarico, a parent at Proctor School District.
The parents say they are concerned as nearly all of Proctor’s students grades 6 to 12 have not seen the inside of a classroom for 10 months.
“For me personally, I have children in grades 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade and it’s been a challenge for all of us,” said Talarico. “There have been many days that end in tears and frustration and I personally have seen my children fail for a lack of a better word.”
Also, Superintendent Engelking has not ruled out full in-person learning for some students as soon as February depending on infection rates.
