By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

Educators offering courses virtually, attendance rate of 96 percent for Worcester

(April 23, 2020) Worcester County public school students will have to work online a little longer, following the announcement last Friday by State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon that school closures would be extended to Friday, May 15.

Students will continue their studies through the school’s online management system, Schoology, and use its Continuity of Learning program. Educators and education board members from all over the county have been collaborating to aid these students.

Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor

“Beth [Shockley-Lynch], as the president of the Worcester County Teachers Association and Gary McCabe, who serves as the UniServ rep for Worcester County, has stood beside us hand-in-hand and has worked with us in a collaborative fashion to make sure that we have given our kids every opportunity to be successful,” Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor said during the monthly board of education teleconference.

Taylor also praised the work of the teachers as well as the students and families involved.

“I think it’s important that we all recognize the challenges of the times that we are in,” he said. “I want to extend again my thanks to our entire community for their support of our efforts in this entire process.”

Worcester County Public Schools has been providing online learning for students for more than three weeks now, and boasts a 96 percent attendance rate among its 6,600 students.

For Coordinator of Instruction Tamara Mills, the online learning has had its challenges, especially for students who have been unable to connect to the internet for their studies.

“It’s not without some speed bumps,” Mills said. “Because even with a hot spot, a student can still experience delays in downloading materials or blocks to certain websites because of filters that we have on our system.”

For students and families looking to boost their internet speed and connection, the board has provided several recommendations and sites to help connect to the internet including using the Worcester County Library Wi-fi, accessing Comcast/Xfinity Wi-Fi, setting up a personal hotspot through mobile phones, setting up a Verizon Home Internet Service or logging on through Worcester County Public School Wi-Fi signals (contact your school principal to obtain network access information).

In addition, the school system has given out around 600 hotspots for families of students who were in dire need of internet services.

Tamara Mills

“Our teachers have really been rock stars through this whole crisis,” She said. “I know teachers that have found creative spots to get connectivity,” she continued. “They’re sitting in their cars in parking lot, working on their computer so they can catch the Internet because theirs at home is so bad. Some of them are going to work with their [spouses] every day to catch the Internet at his office because theirs at home doesn’t work. That’s real dedication.

“The most important thing I think they’re doing is they’re checking on their kids,” she continued. “They’re making sure they have what they need, telling them where food distribution sites are and making sure they’re emotionally secure in this pretty unusual situation. It’s all about our kids and it’s all about our community.”

Mills is especially impressed with how high the connectivity is for Worcester compared to other counties.

“Other counties are not seeing the higher rate that we’re seeing in terms of students getting in and logging on, so to be in the 90s, I think is extremely successful,” Mills said. “However, we can’t ignore the gaps, because then that’s when we start to have equity issues. We have to keep working and plugging along, making sure that we try to get as close to 100 percent.”

In situations where hotspots and internet connections simply aren’t possible, the individual schools have been providing printed copies of the materials. These materials will have to be kept by the students, as the schools have been advised not to accept any work back until schools are reopened.

In the event that schools don’t reopen this spring, Mills said arrangements will be made to have the school materials mailed to be graded.