UC Leaders Trying To Navigate Learning Options With COVID In Schools On Rise

Upper Cumberland School Leaders want the governor to allow a certain number of school COVID days to deal with possible closures.

Representative Ryan Williams said that some school districts statewide are using their snow days while they navigate the rise of cases.

UC School leaders asked Williams for help. Williams said that he and school leaders proposed an idea that would have Governor Lee issue an executive order for a number of days schools could use for virtual learning.

“Instead of using their weather days where they could do continued learning or online learning for those banked number of days,” Williams said. “They could take a week off of school, get two weekends and get nine days where students weren’t in the classroom.”

Williams said that he plans on trying to discuss this option with Governor Bill Lee. He said he would like to see virtual learning as an option for a limited number of COVID days.

Williams said schools are trying to avoid switching to virtual learning because of the severity of learning loss from virtual learning loss last year.

“Our students’ ACT scores as well as their overall scores in mathematics, science, and English dramatically declined over the last year,” Williams said. “Most of that is attributed to because we weren’t able to have kids in the classroom. Which is why the governor was very particular about getting kids back into the classroom this year, which I agree with. But this alternative method would allow the kids to still be in the classroom over 90 percent of the year but also give us the flexibility that we think would be a good idea.”

Williams said that at the end of the day, school and government officials are trying to do what’s best for both the education and safety of its students.

“I’m trying to find additional tools where we can continue to have children in the classroom,” Williams said. “But also protect them and our administrators and teachers from what is the pandemic and COVID and its variant. So the goal is to try and figure out a way to do that. As we can tell from the last 18 months there is no panacea, there is no cure-all for this so what we’re trying to do is find a solution and try to get the best of both worlds.”