Columbiana touts benefits of in-person education

COLUMBIANA — Columbiana Superintendent Donald Mook discussed the decrease in hospitalization rates between January and March during Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Mook was happy to report hospitalization rates related to the pandemic have decreased and he is looking forward to transitioning remaining students back toward in-class learning. Mook plans on working closely with a leadership committee to address concerns with teacher burnout and changing the approach schools are taking with online learning.

“We had some students who checked out, we got some of those students back due to the principals’ hard work … we had a student who came back and went from Fs to As,”

Board member Scott Caron respects both students’ and parents’ decision to continue with online learning, however, urged parents to consider the student’s education. When talking about his experience with online classes Caron explained he gets “an eighth” out of online learning as he does in person. Caron emphasized the interaction with other students and teachers is essential to the learning experience.

Mook pointed out that strong parental support and motivation is needed to keep students on track. For those who don’t have that it’s important to keep the communication between the parents and school staff.

Tony Roncone, board vice president, said it is important that the parent makes the decision between continuing remote learning or returning to the building. Roncone said the options are essential to parental choice of education. Roncone wanted to point out that he does believe methods such as asynchronous and synchronous learning are important. These methods of distance learning offer more instruction than the current model being used.

Mook pointed out that the school district can explore different models of online instruction but would need staff cooperation. Mook does not plan on using a third party platform for virtual learning. Mook intends to keep educational services within the school district.

Mook plans on collecting data this summer that will help the school district come up with a plan how to best reach students and parents throughout the district. Mook wants to point out that a fraction of families need in person education for both the needs of the students and parents.

Caron and other board members want students to get the interaction, believing that the teachers are doing an exceptional job.

“What they accomplished over this school year was second to none,” Caron said.

A comprehensive plan was carried out and coordinated between the district, teachers and school staff.

Mook stated that the school district will be using state assessments and revisit discussions getting students to return to school throughout the summer when they can formulate a plan based on data.

In other matters, the board discussed support for the fair school funding plan. Mook believes that this plan also known as House Bill 1 is a step in the right direction. Mook explained that this plan will allocate more funds towards gifted, special needs and English learning students. The bill would also give a fair share of tax money back to the school district. Learning materials and technology will be updated. The plan would require no increase in taxes, just a call to local legislators.

Erin Heasley, athletic director, and Larry Baughman, ticket director were granted Clipper awards. Heasley has gone above her duties, when schedules changed and more prep work was required, Heasley worked late nights without complaining and had an unrelenting will to continue to provide opportunities for students to compete.

Baughman was recognized for his work overcoming challenges during the pandemic. Baughman prepared seating charts and put himself in harm’s way to ensure safety. He was recognized for his selflessness and persistence to do whatever it took for students.

dgarner@mojonews.com

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