School Districts Will Submit Plans To Address Any Learning Gaps Or Deficiencies

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Schoolwork is still being done at home, but that’s not stopping state leaders from looking towards the future.

Governor Tate Reeves wants school districts to submit plans for the upcoming school year, including how to get students up to speed after disruptions caused by COVID-19.

This will hep address any setbacks and deficiency gaps students may have.

“We’ve got to keep in mind that when school starts that’s going to be five months the kids did not have instruction,” said Dr. Randy Grierson, Louisville Municipal School District Superintendent. “Knowing that, we’ve got to have an assessment ready to give kids and see where are they. We can’t assume where they are, we have to know where they are.”

Grierson said his district has already starting thinking of things to include in the plan they’re going to submit.

“We’re going to have some kind of program this summer, we’ve talked about tentative dates for the Boot Camp targeting a population of kids,” said Grierson. “Of course, it won’t be for everybody to come, but it will be targeted towards the kids that need it more than others to make sure that they have room first. We have that in place, and of course, to go along with that, we’re going to do an after-school program all year long.”

The superintendent said putting the plan together is the easy part, getting the students to buy in is where things can become challenging.

“Just because you set a plan it’s not going to be effective, it’s just going to give you a starting point,” the superintendent explained. “We’ve got to make sure it’s monitored as we go forward to make sure that it’s the best plan and it stays the best plan. If you’ve got to tweak that plan every single week, or whatever you’ve got to do, you’ve got to tweak it to make sure it fits what your expectations are.”

Something else that will help school districts tackle this concern is the more than $169.8 million the state received from the CARES Act Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund.

All Mississippi schools will share the funds.

The funding is provided with flexibility for the state and local school districts to support K-12 education during the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, including distance learning and planning for the next school year.

While Grierson said he doesn’t know how much will be allocated towards his school district, he said they plan to use their share for summer and after-school programs.

“You can’t really focus on distance learning when you have kids that don’t have access to Internet, or where they live they don’t have cell phone service, so it’s hard to require that when that’s not equitable for every student,” Grierson expressed. “We have to do a great job of making sure that we put something in place for those kids that don’t, whether by sending packets home once we get started back, or having bus routes run kids home after their after-school tutorials, just putting something in place that addresses the needs of every student. That’s what that money is there for, and that’s what we are going to use it for.”

All school districts must submit the plans to the State Board of Education by June first.

Click here to read the full executive order signed by the governor.