Omaha Public Schools faces challenges in School Year Rollout
by Jeff Turner
Recently, Omaha Public Schools rolled out its new COVID-19 rules and protections for students in the 2020-2021 school year. The new changes include the staggering of passing periods – face mask requirements, which OPS will provide, and a school week that will see students with last names beginning with A-K coming in on Monday/Tuesday and those with their last name beginning with L-Z coming in on Thursday/Friday, alternating on Wednesday. OPS voted to finalize these rules during their board meeting on June 29. The board voted in favor of purchasing face coverings for students and requiring students to wear them.
Marque Snow, OPS Board President and candidate for NE Legislative District 9
During the school board meeting, the new plan had great opposition. The meeting began with two hours of “public comment” – allowing parents to speak on how they felt about the new rules. Parents then proceeded to mostly pan the new changes, expressing concerns about how they would be able to help their kids with online learning if they have to go back to work, the costs of childcare, and the limited opportunities for socialization this plan offers. “We saw this response coming – we got about well over one-thousand emails about the changes,” said school board president, Marque Snow.
This change often called the “3/2 learning model”, is being implemented in some form in many public schools all across the country – such as Virginia, North Carolina, New York and California. “You have large social spaces in the schools – this isn’t just about students; this is about staff – the critical challenge to the district is to make sure we keep our teachers healthy,” said Snow.
Since the pandemic forced the shuttering of school doors nationwide, remote learning has come to play a significant role in continuing education for Omaha Public Schools. Prior to closings, OPS implemented a virtual school – but now board members have been preparing to lean on it more than ever, investing millions into iPads and other technology for students to attend lessons and do homework remotely. “The CARES Act has helped us pay for a lot of these materials – what has also helped is that OPS ended up with a surplus of thirty million last year,” said Snow. The CARES Act funding is being used to help states with the unprecedented economic toll of shuttering businesses and lost revenues. Nebraska was awarded over one billion dollars with schools and colleges to receive roughly three-hundred million of the grant.
Masks (or face coverings) will be required, however, students will not be penalized for not wearing them - “Our students are smarter than we give them credit for – COVID is happening to their friends, family, loved ones. It’s up to us as adults to step up and wear masks and set an example. It’s a learning opportunity for our students. I believe that when we require face masks, or coverings – that students will follow our example” said Snow. OPS will have 300,000 masks available.
Brought up most often during this meeting were the concerns of working parents and how they were going to manage to keep kids at home for part of the week. “I’m asking ‘How can we help these families? How can we make sure everyone is safe?’ We’re working with a lot of community partners right now, and we’ll be working on more ways to help parents,” said Snow.