LIHU‘E — Last week, the state Department of Education Kaua‘i Complex Area superintendent announced in a video that Kaua‘i’s public schools’ distance-learning plans will be revised for the second semester.
Paul Zina also sent out a letter on Dec. 7 to all public schools and parents, detailing the revisions.
“The Kaua‘i Complex Area Department of Education office is announcing today that we will revise Kaua‘i school distance-learning models through the third quarter, which runs from Jan. 5, 2021, to Mar. 12, 2021,” Zina said. “We are making these changes due to the current COVID-19 case count and infection rate for our island.
“Our priorities remain on health and safety, reaching our most-vulnerable students, and having a positive impact on our families, especially those with students in multiple schools throughout one complex area,” Zina said.
Zina said pre-kindergarten to fifth grade will continue blended learning, while sixth through 12th grades will start blended learning.
For those who want to continue distance learning, full distance learning is still an option for all grades. Zina said schools will continue educational programming to meet identified students’ needs.
“This means distance and in-person learning will look different for different students depending on each school’s capacity,” Zina said.
The safety guidelines of mask-wearing and social-distancing are still requirements of all in-person learning. Schools may support an A/B, A/B/C, or A/B/C/D schedule.
“I will continue to work with school principals to develop plans for each school model of instruction, with considerations for community-specific needs,” Zina said.
Kapa‘a High School
Kapa‘a High School will operate on an A/B/C/D blended schedule beginning Jan. 5, said Principal Tommy Cox.
“Based on the almost 700 survey responses, we have determined that we will be implementing an A/B/C/D blended schedule for the semester,” Cox said.
“This means your child will be attending school one day per week. Due to various circumstances, some students will be invited to come to campus on the fifth day of the week on an as-needed basis.”
Kapa‘a High will begin the second semester with all students participating in distance learning, with the hope to begin a blended schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Cox said this schedule would allow his school to comply with state and county guidelines that have been set in place due to the COVID-19 situation.
“Please know that this schedule is subject to change depending on if the COVID-19 situation worsens or gets better,” Cox said.
Kaua‘i High School
At Kaua’i High School, Principal Marlene Leary said her school will be implementing a rotating schedule.
“This four-group schedule will allow our school to comply with the many of the health and safety guidelines that have been developed due to COVID-19,” Leary said.
Students with last names starting with A to C will be in group “RED1,” with those with last names starting with D to K in group “RED2.”
Students with last names that start with L to P will be in group “WHITE1,” and students with last names from Q to Z will be in group “WHITE2.”
“KHS will continue to follow the same two-week rotation as the other Central Complex schools to best meet the scheduling needs of our families,” Leary said.
Students will come to campus two times a week, every other week, with their groups.
“This every-other-week rotation best fits for the continuity of learning within our bell schedule,” Leary said. “We have not changed our bell or block schedule A/B/B/C/C. We still have our A days as ‘ALL’ online learning, from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. B days are from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. C days are from 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. All students will still be required to follow attendance procedures for each class daily.”
Leary said there is still time to complete the semester two learning model survey. For students to complete full online distance learning, there is a form to complete. Students will be automatically slotted to return to blended learning otherwise.
“We will also utilize this (first) week to transition our quarter 1/2 identified students back to campus, as their schedules will be different,” Leary said. “Parents and guardians of these identified students will be contacted. Blended rotation will start the following week, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2020.”
Waimea High School
Waimea High School will be implementing an A/B/C/D schedule for those who selected blended learning.
“These students will be attending school one day per week with his/her group; Monday will remain a virtual-only day for all of our students,” Principal Mahina Anguay said. “Students and families still have the option to continue doing distance learning in Q3.”
All students will start on Tuesday, Jan. 5 with online distance learning, with the hope to get a blended schedule starting on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
The school will increase class time from 45 to 60 minutes per class, and have all classes completed before breaking for lunch daily at 12:40 p.m. on A days or 12:20 p.m. on B days; buses will begin leaving campus at 1:15 p.m..
Students will sign out on a Google form at the end of the day to assist with accountability and in the event of necessary contact tracing.
The school will also have virtual office hours on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, and tutoring Monday through Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Specific school plans can be found on the Kaua‘i Public School Launch page at bit.ly/kauaipublicschools.
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Stephanie Shinno, reporter can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.
