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Burlington High student performance during online learning highlights importance of teacher accessibility

The Hawk Eye - 3/24/2021

Mar. 24—The pandemic-induced changes in educational delivery models have been difficult for Burlington High School students both in terms of mental health and academic performance, but the school has several plans in place to help get students back on track.

Speaking Monday to the Burlington School Board, BHS Principal David Keane said mental health issues experienced by students have impacted attendance and overall performance this year.

"We're dealing with anxiety, depression, we're seeing some anger and aggression that's not typically seen in some of our students," Keane said. "You can tell that their frustration rate is getting rather high."

Keane noted lower student attendance and increased disengagement among students both virtually and in person since the district began the school year with a hybrid learning model compared to pre-pandemic years.

The district transitioned to a fully virtual model in November as Des Moines County's positivity rate climbed and remained high, with students returning to hybrid learning just before winter break. Last month, the district resumed fully in-person education.

"Some of even our best students have struggled a little bit as we've shifted from virtual to face-to-face," Keane said. "It has impacted them academically."

Student attendance is among the most notable challenges BHS faces, Keane said. At the end of the second trimester last year, the school's attendance rate was 87.7%. At the close of this year's second trimester, which ended March 5, the attendance rate was 79.78%.

"Some of that was due to a lot of the transition back and forth, some of them not being as engaged when they're virtual," Keane said. "But it's very, very difficult for our teachers to do the job that they can do if they're not able to access the students."

Credit acquisitions also are down. By the end of the second trimester of the 2019-20 school year, students had acquired a total of 6,174 credits. This year, that number is down to 4,604. Some of that difference is due to lower enrollment.

"Even adjusting for the change in enrollment, we're still down about 1,080 credits fewer than what we had had the previous year," Keane said.

About 57 seniors need more than six of the classes they can take within the school day to be able to graduate at the end of the school year. Teacher teams are working with those students to help them get caught up, with some taking online and others taking zero-hour classes in an effort to acquire the 48 credits needed to graduate in May.

"I would not write the 57 students off, but at the same time, they're in a position where it's going to be a struggle to make the graduation requirements that they need," Keane said.

Two-hundred-sixty high school students have participated in the school's virtual academy in some fashion this year, earning a total of 998 credits.

"In two trimesters, that's roughly four credits per student," Keane said. "Again, unless the teachers can access the students, it's very very difficult for them to be successful with them."

Furthermore, 137 high school students who were enrolled in some component of the virtual academy have not earned any online credits, though they did earn credits through streamed classes with a teacher and have earned a total of 80 credits since the start of the third trimester, while 62 students haven't earned any credits at all this year. Twenty of those 62 students have withdrawn from school.

"There are numerous reasons, and every year we have a population that they don't wake up until third trimester, so I would expect these numbers to correct themselves a little bit," Keane said.

A handful of students have excelled with online only courses, with seven students in the school's virtual academy having completed their graduation requirements. Two of those students have decided to graduate early, while five are continuing with additional coursework.

An additional five virtual academy students have earned 12 or more credits in the first two trimesters.

"So there are students who adapted very well to the virtual learning," Keane said. "It actually allowed them to accelerate their learning."

Students in the Burlington Innovative Learning Academy, a more integrative approach to the district's former alternative high school, already are showing improvement upon returning to in-person learning.

Eighty credits have been earned by BILA students in the first two weeks of the third trimester alone, Keane reported. BILA students had completed a total of 106 credits the first trimester and a total of 165 the second trimester.

Keane said BILA student attendance has been consistent as well.

"Since we've returned face-to-face, our attendance has been very consistent at our alternative school program," Keane said.

In addition to teacher teams working with students behind on credits, the school also has made available a therapeutic learning community classroom to students struggling to get through their regular classes.

"It really has been very good for some of those students who are seriously suffering with depression and anxiety in coping with being able to come back and having an escape for just awhile just to get themselves back to where they need to be emotionally to go back into the classroom," Keane said of the TLC classroom, a concept turned to reality thanks to 17-year-old senior Jayden Garmoe and her Project Management classmates. "We've only been running it since the beginning of third trimester, but we've had a lot of really good things come out of this so far, and one of the things I'm most proud of is that this is something that came out of one of our students."

Keane highlighted another student-driven initiative, the Student Ambassador Program, whose conceptualization and execution are being headed up by student Jessica Kendell, who pitched the idea to the National Guard as well as the school district.

The program will pair incoming or returning students with student ambassadors, who will help connect them with resources and school offerings related to their interests.

The high school also has begun a Mentors for Violence Prevention program, wherein about 30 students will receive training in peer mediation, as well as when to alert school staff of tensions between groups and individuals.

"This is another program that could help us a lot with some of those mental health issues that our students are dealing with largely due to the pandemic," Keane said.

Additionally, the school has expanded its Healthy Choice classes, initially available only to girls, to boys. Students in the class work together in groups to work through issues and check in with teachers several times throughout the day. The class helps to boost attendance and student attitudes.

Tutoring after and outside school has resumed, with Saturday School Breakfast Club, where students can go to get breakfast and help with their school work, will resume soon.

Summer school program dates also have been set. There will be two sessions, the first being Mondays through Thursdays June 7 through July 1, and the second being Mondays through Fridays July 12 through July 30.

Classes for both sessions will be 8 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The school board set the public hearing for its proposed levy for the 2021-22 school year for 6 p.m.April 5.

"There is a slight increase in the proposed levy rate of about 22 cents," Business Director Greg Reynolds said. "The main driver in that is the general fund, which is mainly set by the state funding formula."

The increase will bring the district's levy to $14.51 per $1,000 taxable valuation.

Reynolds said the increase is driven by the district's about $803,000 budget guarantee, which actually would allow the district to increase the levy by 80 cents rather than the proposed 22 cents. The district did not have a budget guarantee last year.

Reynolds noted the increase is about 50 cents less than the district's levy two years ago and $1.40 less than the levy three years ago.

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