SULPHUR BLUFF—In the elementary report delivered to the Sulphur Bluff school board at their regular meeting last Thursday, Elementary Principal Amy Daniel wrote teachers were balancing their usual class responsibilities with their new remote learning students.
“Every teacher took a crash course in Google Classroom in August, and every teacher started the year with Google Classroom ready to launch,” Daniel wrote. “The teachers are working hard teaching face-to-face, contacting the online learners and making every accommodation imaginable for our students to be successful.”
Secondary Principal Marshall Moore said in his report that 10% of secondary is currently doing remote learning. Most are choosing to use remote learning while some are required due to a mandatory quarantine.
“There’s probably about seven choosing to be remote and about three or four that are required to quarantine right now,” Moore said. “They’re getting every opportunity as we get further on in this process.”
Superintendent Dustin Carr discussed the district’s asynchronous remote learning plan in his board report, saying the district offers devices such as internet hotspots and iPads for students. There is also a paper packet version of the plan.
“It’s a good thing we got that [Gillis] grant,” board member Zach Collett said, referring to the $50,000 the district received last year from the John and Deborah Gillis Foundation. “It’s made a huge difference for them.”
Carr also noted secondary student attendance is hard to track accurately across classes during remote learning. Students have to log into the online program and work 240 minutes each day, but they may not do work for each of their eight classes that day. Carr said if students complete work needed that week, the teachers count them present. The board later approved the plan.
In action items, the board approved a raise in bus stipends, adjunct faculty Dr. Mario Villarino and Johanna Hicks for 4-H activities and recognized 4-H as an extracurricular activity. The board also approved a new agreement for the Hopkins County Special Education Co-op between North Hopkins, Saltillo and Sulphur Bluff ISDs.
“It does offer more protection on the legal front and spells out responsibilities for the fiscal agent [Saltillo ISD] and the North Hopkins campus and what Tonya Potts, the director, can do over there,” Carr said. “It turned out well.”