Over the last couple of weeks I've been interviewing district leaders about the spring closing and the fall re-opening. Fall planning is really daunting. I knew that already but talking to them brought it to life. One of them told me that with social distancing, to get all 1/12

of their elementary kids to school on the bus means they need More than 100 additional buses. They’ve got teachers at high risk for COVID that will quit if they have to come in and other teachers who will quit if they have to teach remotely. They’ve got high school teachers 2/12

trying to connect with 150 kids and their parents every week – kids that like to text their teachers at 10 at night. They’ve got middle school teachers who are single-subject teachers (science, math, English) who are going to have to teach elementary kids in all subjects and 3/12

high school teachers that are going to have to teach middle school kids.

They’ve got curriculum designed for 180 days of instruction but kids may only get 36 or 72 days of in-class instruction. And they still have to add last year’s spring lessons to this year. They’re 4/12

trying to figure out staggered schedules but don’t have enough teachers to be in the classroom and simultaneously available to kids when they're at home, so they’re trying to figure out how kids can basically teach themselves when they’re at home. They're trying to make 5/12

sure all the kids from a family are in school on the same two days. To provide required and needed services to students with special needs. To keep parents informed but rely on them less. To keep teachers safe and effective. To turn a crisis approach to learning into a new 6/12

normal that's just as effective as the old normal. And they may be facing massive budget cuts and still need thermometers (they have to check every kids' temperature every day on entry to the school), PPE, tons of disinfectant and hand sanitizers, more buses, more adults 7/12

to enforce social distancing, more Chromebooks, more hotspots, more teacher training, more toner and paper, more, more, more….

As for learning loss, one district told me that this spring 9 weeks of instruction were effectively reduced to 9 days. Instead of 45 hours of 8/12

instruction plus homework in math and in reading during that 9 week term, high school kids had a total of 13.5 hours of instruction in each subject. That’s it. Middle school kids had 9 hours in each subject. And elementary kids had only 6 hours of instruction per subject. 9/12

Think about it. It’s shocking.

Now they're trying to figure out how to make up that learning loss while the pandemic is still active and their paramount need is to keep people - students and teachers - safe. It's daunting and the amazing thing is that they'll figure it 10/12

out. They are figuring it out because they have to and because it’s their mission. They'll figure it out despite the political pressure to just go back to the old normal, virus be damned. That keeping kids and teachers safe is less important than the 11/12 https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/white-house-schools-fall-coronavirus/2020/07/07/e2b1a16e-c059-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html

economy. It's amazing that despite being asked to do the near impossible, they’re committed to doing it in a way that improves equity, reaches more kids, and embraces innovation. I’m so impressed. And humbled. 12/12