Scott Swanson
Chromebooks were in short supply last week as Sweet Home students and their parents arrived at their local schools to pick up equipment needed to start online school this week.
But other than that, Supt. Tom Yahraes said, things got rolling Monday morning, Sept. 21, with some deployment of Macs and other laptops to fill the gap.
“I had a lot of positive feedback from students and teachers – we are connecting and we have begun instruction,” he said Monday afternoon after school let out for the day.
“For teachers, assistants, and administrators, seeing kids’ faces via Zoom was the absolute highlight of the day. Are there issues with interacting with the technology? Yes, such as student transitions to links, learning log-on information. There is a learning curve for all of us – students, staff and families. We are growing together. Today we are moving forward and putting points on the board.”
Yahraes said Friday the district was short 90 Chromebook at the high school “and around four at the elementary level,” due to the fact that it has 500 on back order.
He said the district converted some 60 iPads for use if necessary and was planning to refurbish as many as 45 laptops by early this week.
“We are maximizing our resources,” he said. “We are a resilient, can-do community.”
He said Friday that eight families had reported “connectivity issues” and noted that the district can provide hot spot internet access devices and has access points available. He said “eligible students” would have access to computer labs, per OHA/ODE health and safety guidelines, as of Tuesday, Sept. 22.
He said Friday that state-level metrics for grades four through 12 have not met the ODE standards for cases under 10 per 100,000 tests and test positivity rate of 5 percent or less for three weeks in a row.
However, the good news, he added, is that Linn County has met ODE standards for cases 30 per 100,000 tests and test positivity of 5 percent or less beyond the three- week state requirement.
“We planned to begin to onboard students around Oct. 9, the six-week mark. Given the metrics continue to meet requirements, we will systematically and safely begin to bring students back,” he said.
The district continues to plan for bringing limited numbers of students onside for in-person instruction, as permitted by ODE.
In a letter to parents and staff, Yahraes emphasized the positives.
“We are no longer maintaining community evacuation status. It rained. The smoke is leaving. We can see the sky. Canvas did not crash. We kicked off the year under adverse conditions. Most of all, we saw students and began to make connections again.
“We will spend the next couple of weeks delivering and refining our distance instruction and building connections with students. This is Step One in building pathways to get students back in school.”