Dearborn Schools schedules town hall meeting to discuss how returning to school online will look
Dearborn Schools schedules town hall meeting to discuss how returning to school online will look
Press Release #07/2020-21
Dearborn Public Schools is inviting parents and the public to learn more about how starting the school year online will look during a special virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 6 p.m.
Viewers can tune in to the meeting via the district’s Facebook page, YouTube Channel or on its cable television channel.
Among the topics to be discussed are an overview of what technology the district will be using, how the student’s daily schedule will look, how services will be provided to special needs students, COVID-related cleaning procedures, how COVID-19 cases in students and staff will be handled, and other frequently asked questions. Questions can also be submitted during the event via Facebook or through an online form at http://bit.ly/DbnTownHall8-26-20.
“We know opening school this year online is like no other return-to-school our community has experienced. That is generating a lot of questions and some anxiety for parents and students, and we hope to use this forum to answer as many of those questions as we can and in turn calm their fears,” said Superintendent Glenn Maleyko.
Dr. Maleyko will be joined at the town hall by other staff, including representatives from administration, school nurses, and the operations and technology departments. Those speakers will help answer the most pressing questions in the community. The district has published some of the information on its Back to School website.
Dearborn Public Schools is starting the school year with online classes until at least Oct. 1. The Board of Education will reevaluate conditions in September to decide if the district can start bringing more students back to the schools. During online learning, the district will also offer learning labs, which are small group face-to-face sessions for students recommended by their teachers.
To ease families into the new online learning method, the first week of school will be half days for students. School starts Monday, Aug. 31. Teachers will use the afternoons that week for additional professional development. Many schools will also use that first week to hold events to distribute class materials to students.
“We ask parents for their patience and understanding that this system of educating students is new to us, too. We know there will probably be hiccups as we bring more than 20,000 students back to class in a way that has never been done before in Dearborn. The first week will be a phase-in period for all of us,” Dr. Maleyko said. “While we still hope to return most of our students to in-person learning this year, in the meantime we are carefully planning and working to make the most of online learning across the district.”