Editor’s Note: To maintain the anonymity of Mahomet-Seymour teachers, all teachers interviewed will be listed as “one teacher” in this article.
By Dani Tietz
There is so much Mahomet-Seymour teachers want the public to know prior to Monday’s school board meeting.
According to the board packet released Thursday afternoon, the board will take another vote on instruction during the second semester, potentially moving the four-day a week model (voted on Sept. 21) that kept Mondays as a professional development and asynchronous learning day to a full, five-day in-person model with remote instruction in grades 6-12 outsourced to Edmentum.
Moments before parents found out about the potential change, after having just completed a survey on Oct. 13 that mentioned nothing about five-day instruction or outsourcing remote learning, junior high and high school teachers received an email from Director of Instruction Nicole Rummel letting them know about the board action item on the agenda.
The change of plans is something that Mahomet-Seymour educators have grown accustomed to. The board has voted on a Return to School plan multiple times since July 20.
Board members Jeremy Henrichs, Lori Larson and Max McComb have been the most vocal in moving away from a hybrid model and towards the instruction model pre-pandemic, but Superintendent Lindsey Hall has also encouraged the board to consider a move towards full in-person instruction even as early as Oct. 1.
A survey presented at the Sept. 21 board meeting showed that 74-percent of Mahomet-Seymour teachers do not feel safe going four days a week, though.
Mahomet-Seymour teachers pride themselves on providing an education that is built upon instruction, relationship and safety. The 2020-21 school year is no different, except the world is in the middle of a pandemic.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District announced in May that “safety and health are No. 1 priorities and considerations,” and teachers took that to heart as they tried to build educational models, on their own time and dime, that integrated instruction and relationship into safety without additional training over the summer months.
The first two days that teachers were back within their contract period were spent in meetings. Since school began on Aug. 19, teachers say that the time spent in professional development on Mondays has been beneficial in setting up synchronous and asynchronous learning environments.
“It would have been much more beneficial to have that some of that at the beginning of the year before we saw students,” one teacher said. “It would have been nice to be able to practice having Google Meets and having staff in your room joining and practicing.”
In the first weeks of school, teachers said issues included troubleshooting the location of the camera, connectivity issues, recording attendance and balancing the needs of in-person and remote learners.
“We were doing on the fly, those first couple of weeks, which I think added to the perception in the community that we didn’t know what we were doing,” one teacher said.
As teachers have figured out how to do things as they go, two months into the hybrid model, teachers believe that they are beginning to make gains and have suggestions on how to make the hybrid model better for all learners.
“Because teachers are good at what they do, they’re figuring it out and they’re making it work for their own particular needs and students,” one teacher said.
“Some kids are thriving and they love this and other families are really struggling,” one teacher said.
While all teachers realize that the model currently in place is not successful for 100-percent of the students, that some “really struggle with the lack of in-person, education and the engagement,” they also know that modifications and additional tools can be utilized to help bridge the gap while keeping district COVID-19 numbers low.
Teachers mentioned the ongoing conversation among board members about utilizing other spaces throughout the community to provide a supervised learning environment with adequate internet access while students are socially distanced and able to receive the help they need.
“We’re at that stage right now where you can clearly identify students that really need something extra,” one teacher said. “So how do we do that?
Many junior high and high school students may have been apprehensive about utilizing Monday office hours at the beginning of the year, but teachers report that more and more students are coming forward with questions and concerns more frequently in the recent weeks.
Teachers said that the office hours have actually helped them connect with students in ways they did not have time to in previous years. Their prep time was normally set aside for tasks related to the classroom and they took a 30-minute lunch break.
The junior high has also offered time for students to come in to spend time with their teachers when they are falling behind on assignments.
“I think you just continue to reach across that challenge; you continue to work through it,” one teacher said. “And I feel personally like I’ve gotten into a routine at this point. I’ve just figured out how to do this.”
One teacher said that while staying the hybrid model, students in grades 6-12 may be best served with some sections or content areas going completely remote.
“I know we can have some fully remote sections,” one teacher said. “That would be full. I know that’s possible. The issue is what it would do to the numbers and the other sections.”
But outsourcing remote learning in the upper grade levels caused teachers great pause.
“I’m starting to see students make appointments with me and coming in, even just to work on particular projects,” one teacher said. “Some like to come in and see other students, and I can create that forum for them to do that.
“We’re seeing an increase in that just because, again, we’re in that routine now. I would struggle with taking that away if that five-day plan were implemented, even in January.”
Teachers spoke about lack of input on these changes from teachers and how that might impact students moving forward. They said that there is a high expectation in terms of education in Mahomet-Seymour and there is a consensus that outsourcing the remote aspect will put students even farther behind their peers within their community.
The decision between four-day and five-day education and remote learning is whether or not the community wants Mahomet-Seymour teachers to teach their students and if the community is willing to give teachers the time to prepare for that during professional development.
“While we’re moving quickly and it’s really hard to assess where all students are if you don’t ever see them, it’s better than having them outsourced because we can get a pulse on our own students,” one teacher said.
“We are losing part of our community,” one teacher said.
As teachers have been able to get a sense of where students are, what their needs are based on whether they are in-person and remote, and how the tools they have work, they are spending more than just Mondays planning.
To some in the community it may look like teachers have more planning time than they did in years prior. Students arrive at 9:30, at the elementary level there is 45-minutes between groups of a.m. and p.m. students. Teachers are contractually obligated to stay at the school for 30 minutes after the release of students.
Teachers say that they are not just waiting around for students during that time, though. They are required to have office hours prior to the beginning of the school day, they have duties they are required to attend to, they have planning and meetings to attend and they need to make sure that their rooms are cleaned.
After school, teachers are often involved in meetings, including, but not limited to IEP meetings.
Planning is often happening after contractual school hours, as teachers say they normally do, but it has also taken over their weekends. Lesson plans that have worked for years have had to be re-imagined as teachers grapple with engagement of students in class and those remote.
“I don’t think I’ve had a true day off since before school started because before school started, I was doing extra professional development on my own trying to figure out how this is even going to happen,” one teacher said.
“The perception is that teachers are not using those planning days,” one teacher said.
“I can tell you, we are working. We are working,” one teacher said.
Bringing students back to school in-person, either four or five days, and maintaining a safe learning environment is not something that is feasible in Mahomet-Seymour schools, teachers said.
“Our facilities are overstretched,” one teacher said. “We are busting at the seams.”
At the elementary level, classrooms are equipped with 5.5 foot tables, not desks. Having an a.m. and p.m. session allows teachers to fit about 10-12 students in each classroom at opposite ends of the desk.
Per CDC guidelines, students cannot sit face-to-face with each other. Teachers question how social distancing will work when a whole classroom, generally 24 students, come back for full-day instruction.
Teachers say that each table would be required to have four to five students, in some cases six students to a table, to fit all of the students in the classroom. Teachers say that the dimensions included in the district email do not include two important pieces of information: teachers have been told that they cannot be within a 6-foot distance of students for more than 15 minutes total within a day, so they have to build out a 115-square foot radius in their classroom plan prior to thinking about where to place students; the square footage given to parents does not include built in shelving that cannot be removed.
Knowing that they are not supposed to put students at tables face-to-face and knowing that even if the district purchased desks for all students in the district, teachers know that they cannot maintain a 6-foot distance between students with the resources they have right now.
No matter where elementary students are in a classroom, whether sitting at a table or having a permanent spot on the floor, they will be required to be in the same spot for the entire day, except during lunch time.
Teachers say that students will not have recess and that specials will be conducted in each classroom.
“They’re not going anywhere,” one teacher said. “They are going to be in our room for 5.5 hours a day.
“Do you want your kids sitting there for 5.5 hours and not going anywhere? That’s not even close to developmentally appropriate.”
Lunch time will also be a challenge in all buildings. Currently, elementary students do not have lunch in the school, but teachers wonder, with class sizes sometimes reaching 27 or 28 students, and the law stating that only 50 people can be in a space at a time, how lunch will work.
“Two classes could be 50 kids,” one teacher said.
There are 34 sections of K-2 at Middletown Prairie alone.
Lunchroom supervisors and food preparation would also have to be taken into consideration. If the district decided to have students eat in their classrooms, teachers say that the district would be obligated to hire supervisors.
Teachers in Mahomet-Seymour Junior High and High School say that the district is already utilizing every space available for lunch hour. Students sit at the far ends of the table.
“Where are we going to put all of these students?” one teacher asked. “How long is it going to take for lunch for all these kids to eat? Are we putting kids in classrooms without their masks on to eat? Who’s going to supervise them? Is a teacher going to then be required to supervise students who are eating unmasked in their classroom? How do we clean the classrooms efficiently?”
At the 6-12 levels, students have enough time to clean their work surfaces between classes, teachers report.
They also say, though, that there has been a lot of discussion amongst staff as to whether or not the cleaning solution is killing the virus. They do know, though, that the custodians who come into each classroom after school hours are doing what they’ve been asked to do in terms of using the Clorox 360 cleaners that disinfect the room.
“They’re working hard to keep our buildings safe,” one teacher said.
Teachers at the junior high and high school levels are also concerned about the amount of time that students have to wash their hands appropriately throughout the day, even though there is hand sanitizer in each classroom.
Distancing students will also be an issue at the 6-12 level should A and B schedules be combined into one day.
Keeping in mind the 115 square foot radius teachers have been instructed to keep from students because “the district does not have subs to cover an outbreak among teachers,” the largest classrooms can fit 14 students at 6-foot distance.
Teachers say that class sizes usually vary in size between 25 students to 30, even sometimes as many as 40. At times specials can have hundreds of kids in each class.
“Social distancing will be impossible,” one teacher said.
“I don’t think I’m going to be safe in my building,” one teacher said.
“I think I will be very concerned about my health, but I can social distance because I’m the adult and I’m the teacher and I set up the classroom,” one teacher said. “The district is counting on us; we have been told, we expect you to social distance. Because if we don’t social distance, and we have cases, they’re going to have to quarantine teachers, too. And we can’t quarantine seven teachers for one positive case, ‘We don’t have the subs, we can’t sustain that,’” one teacher said.
“So it’s kind of like, okay, who do we keep safe? Who’s more important to keep safe?” one teacher asked. “Because if I’m social distancing that takes up X-amount of space in my classroom that then my students don’t have.
“To keep teachers safe, kids are going to have to be closer together.”
Mahomet-Seymour High School loaned desks to the junior high for classrooms that used the table model for student seating. According to teachers, those desks would have to be moved back to the high school to accommodate students, leaving junior high teachers with the same dilemma elementary teachers would face.
Junior high and high school teachers estimate that if 80-percent of students return to school for the second semester, they will see between 100 and 120 students per day.
Although some teachers and community members are beginning to question the data provided on the district’s COVID-19 dashboard, teachers agree that the hybrid model is working in that COVID-19 numbers and outbreaks have been fairly isolated and students are getting some semblance of normalcy in attending in-person school part time without having the entire district go fully remote, like Danville and Monticello are doing this week because of increase COVID-19 numbers.
“We’re going to sacrifice everyone’s education in-person?” one teachers said. “To me it’s not worth that risk. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing, because we know we really can make this work for the most part, and who knows if it’s sustainable in the face of some major outbreaks.
“But I feel that this is a good way to connect with kids, but keep everything and everyone safe and distanced and to prevent the spread.”
“I just really would like to know how the board is making decisions,” one teacher said. “The hybrid thing is obviously working, we haven’t been shut down.”
“The consequence of opening back up is parents need to understand that when cases rise, we’ll have to go fully remote. So, families need to have a plan.”
Teachers worry that as they move into the cold season, windows will once again have to be closed, reducing fresh air flow throughout the buildings. Teachers have asked for an analysis of the district’s HVAC’s systems air exchange rate since July.
“No one was able to answer that question for me,” one teacher said.
Since early in the summer months, Mahomet resident Jason Vogelbaugh, Director of Energy Solutions with Alpha Control Services, which worked to integrate the Daikin VRF system at Middletown Prairie, Lincoln Trail Elementary and Mahomet-Seymour High School, has offered to provide the district with a free analysis of the HVAC systems and to help the district understand how the ASHARE guidelines could help reduce the spread of COVID-19 during in-person instruction. Vogelbaugh never heard back from the district.
Some teachers have purchased their own air purification systems while others have considered it.
“I can afford to do that,” one teacher said. “I’m fortunate that I could afford to do that. I know my colleagues could not.
“I have a window in my classroom that I could open, and I do open it. But numerous classrooms don’t have windows.
“This should not be about individual teachers who have the means to buy extra things for their classroom to keep them safer. It shouldn’t be teacher against teacher. The district should be buying those things.”
The district did purchase plexiglass for the offices throughout the district. Board member Max McComb said the district could potentially buy plexiglass for classrooms to help protect teachers.
One teacher said that their perspective on the pandemic and what to do about school has changed a few times since March.
“If we think back to the early days and we think of our perspective then and how it felt like this is just a temporary thing,” the teacher said. “You know, we all thought we will be back in school in April.
“Then as things progressed and as it became more and more evident that this virus isn’t going anywhere.
“We have to learn a lot about it, and we have to develop a vaccine really before we get to this sense of normalcy again, whatever that means. I clung to that too in the early days, and I let that go as I’ve gone through this process. The idea that there can be a return to normal before there’s a vaccine, I have let that go.
“It’s not going to be normal, it’s impossible to be normal. We are not living in normal times. I feel that people just cling to that they want the normal and we all do, but that doesn’t exist right now. And I think that people just need to acknowledge that normal is not here, nor will it be for the foreseeable future.”
Teachers said that going into the school year was filled with anxiety, knowing that the classroom space would be filled with students who have a variety of life experiences that may expose everyone in the room to COVID-19 while also seeing the need to balance in-person instruction with remote.
But, one teacher said, “I’ve witnessed that it’s working.
Part of teachers feeling safe and heard has been the support that they see at the building administration level. Teachers feel like their building principals and assistant principals are listening to their concerns and their ideas, and those of students, to try and troubleshoot a trying time.
“They made it feel like it was not an imposition,” one teacher said. “They had time to talk and say, ‘Let’s handle this.’ So I felt that I had that forum to go to them.”
Teachers wish that district administrators would stand up for the plans and perspectives that teachers are offering to the board of education more.
But, teachers feel like what teachers have to say would fall on deaf ears at the board level.
“The board truly isn’t interested in what the teachers say,” one teacher said.
“The change in the plans, the constant change, the constant discussion, makes planning in the buildings virtually impossible,” one teacher said. “We cannot plan. And because the board failed to act over the summer, and they changed their decision several times, again, teachers can’t plan if they don’t know what they’re planning for.”
Teachers want to plan for a consistent learning environment for students. In the world of unknowns, teachers said that they want to have normalcy in that they provide instruction, relationship and safety under the umbrella of consistency.
“I want to be consistent in my approach to be able to work towards figuring things out and making our technology better and connecting with our students more,” one teacher said.
The constant back and forth has also made teachers feel like the community believes that teachers do not want to be in school, and in some cases, that they don’t want to work at all.
“We want to be in our classrooms full time with our students,” one teacher said. “But we also want everyone to be safe.”
“I found myself thinking about leadership and how it’s difficult when you are in a position where you’re making decisions for a wide array of people,” one teacher said. “It’s impossible to make the right decision for everyone in their opinions.
“Some people think we should be back five days,” one teacher said. “Some people think we should be completely remote and, you know, at any level they’re in between.
“How to govern and lead in a way that is organized and how to put out a straightforward message and allow people to then move forward with that choice is a hard thing to do. I think as a leader, it’s not an easy thing.
“I think that when you are in a leadership position you are often tasked with making those difficult choices and then you need to stand by your choices, regardless of the dissent or the opinions of people that are going to be loud voices in protest of these decisions when you are driven by the recommendations of experts.
“I wish that we had more strength in what we are seeing from our Board of Education in their decision making. I wish that it was more consistent.
“We can’t just go back and keep revisiting something. I think it is unrealistic and not a good way to move forward in the interest of all.
“I know that people that are in these positions have their own opinions and maybe do not agree with how to move forward but when it’s the majority of your governing body that’s voting for something democracy has spoken. Let’s move on.”
Working through difficult times often brings something new and unexpected. Despite feeling upset, teachers feel resolved that they can make something great out of the situation the community is in.
“So much has changed and we have to rethink everything, so I’m upset,” one teacher said. “But at the same time, I also acknowledge that some of the most amazing things have come out of some of the most trying times in history. So how can we then use this to become something completely unknown and different than what we ever would have had this not come into our life in this tragic way?”
Teachers have seen that students are beginning to learn that they can organize their priorities and responsibilities to manage more than they thought they might be able to. Teachers have learned that they can use different techniques and tools to communicate and engage students, even more than they could when they were in-person. And they have seen their colleagues and students become interested in and motivated to do things that they would not have before.
“I have to become someone a little different now,” one teacher said. “And how can I become a better teacher?
“How can we rise to this occasion?”
