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North Crawford School Board discusses COVID-19
North Crawford

NORTH CRAWFORD - The North Crawford School Board met on Tuesday, March 17, to make decisions about how the school would operate during the closure ordered by Governor Tony Evers. At the time, the board thought the closure would be of two or three week’s duration. Evers has now ordered that the closure of Wisconsin schools will extend “indefinitely.”

Superintendent Brandon Munson reported that the board had made a plan for the first week, and is at the same time making plans for the long haul. Initially, the approach was to have teachers send packets to the children, after allowing students and families into the building to retrieve their supplies and chromebooks. The district simultaneously began delivery of school lunches and a breakfast for the following day for families that wanted it.

“We are working now on transitioning to online learning for students from the upper elementary grades through high school using Google Classroom,” Munson said. “Most students and staff are already familiar with this system, which allows teachers to drop assignments in, and for students to pull them off, complete them, and then put them back in.”

Munson anticipates that it will be a smooth transition for most. He said the district plans to offer professional development for staff to support them in switching to this instruction delivery method. The district’s goal is to have this process up and running by Monday, April 6.

“For the younger elementary students, we are debating between the Google Classroom platform and the SeeSaw platform,” Munson said. “They are both very similar, but some staff are debating whether SeeSaw might be a better fit for our younger students.”

As far as ensuring all students have the resources they need to participate in distance learning, Munson said the district is taking the following steps:

• The district is getting a shipment of internet hotspot devices for students who lack internet access. These will be distributed to students who need them, with the district paying the monthly service surcharge.

• Students will not need access to a printer, and will be able to use a phone to photograph completed assignments. The picture can be uploaded into the system for the teachers to grade.

• Having sent the chromebooks home with students, the district believes that most students will have access to the device they need to engage in distance learning. If there are students who lack a device, the district will provide them with one from among devices available in the district already.