Classroom teaching for secondary students will be canceled for South Washington County Schools, the district has announced.
Starting Nov. 16, students in grades six through 12 will receive distance learning — and not face-to-face meetings with their teachers. The classroom teaching ban will last until Dec. 22 — at least.
The change doesn’t affect kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students, who will continue with a hybrid of classroom and distance learning.
School for secondary students will be cancelled Nov. 13 to give teachers a day to plan for the shift to distance learning.
The school district decided to abandon hybrid learning for older students because a surge of COVID cases and a teacher shortage.
“Unfortunately, we have reached a milestone that requires us to take action,” said Superintendent Julie Nielsen, in an email to parents.
Nielsen said that “community spread” — involving people who don’t know how they got COVID — is growing steadily.
The cases of COVID closely track the extra days students have away from school. COVID cases jumped two weeks after a teacher-training day Oct. 15, and officials expect another jump after the Thanksgiving break.
The district is also facing a new problem: Finding substitute teachers for elementary schools. Shifting to 100-percent distance learning in higher grades will allow the district to transfer some teachers to elementary levels.
The district will continue to provide meals for secondary students on a curbside pick-up basis. Details about school meals will be provided later, the District said.
The district said Community Education activities, building rentals and secondary-school athletics will not be affected.