A proposal for the North Little Rock School District to go to an alternate-days attendance plan for the coming school year will be scrapped for a traditional five-days-a-week plan, the district’s interim superintendent said Wednesday.
Superintendent Keith McGee told members of the Reopening School Task Force on Monday that he would present a proposal to the School Board today that would include an alternate-days schedule for all students except pre-kindergarteners, who are to attend classes in person five days a week.
That plan changed Wednesday after comments made by Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key during Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily news briefing.
Key said it had become necessary to clarify that the state’s public school systems are to provide in-school instruction five days a week. He also said school systems can add options to that, such as 100 percent virtual instruction or an option where students would attend in-school classes two days a week and attend classes online the remaining three days.
“This is not a change in our stance at all since March when the governor made the announcement to close schools for onsite instruction,” Key said during the governor’s news briefing.
“We have said since day one that the plan for the fall is to come back and have school onsite. We had been made aware that some districts were making plans that were fewer than five days, and we felt like that clarification was needed today to make sure that districts understood we do have a state responsibility.”
McGee said Wednesday afternoon that he now plans to present the School Board with a proposal that will include a virtual academy option and a five-days-a-week onsite option.
“The central office and building administration are prepared for onsite instruction [five days a week] as well as virtual,” McGee said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to working with [Arkansas Department of Education], [Arkansas Department of Health], and the Governor’s Office to ensure a safe, effective school year.”
Under the scrapped alternate-days proposal, North Little Rock students would have been split into A and B groups. The A group would have physically attended classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the B group would have attended classes onsite Thursdays and Fridays. The building would have been cleaned every day, and teachers would have been present in the building every day.
McGee said Monday he thought the alternate days schedule was the best option when considering the health and safety of students and staff members.
The Little Rock, Pulaski County Special and Jacksonville/North Pulaski districts' school-reopening plans fall in line with the state expectation for five days a week of in-school instruction.
The Little Rock and Jacksonville districts are giving parents a choice of a five-days-a-week-in-school or a 100 percent virtual plan.
The Pulaski County Special District will provide three options: five days a week in school, 100 percent virtual or two days a week in school and three days online.
“We believe we have no issues at all,” Pulaski Special District Superintendent Charles McNulty said Wednesday. “We offer the five days a week, and we offer blended and digital.”