Vermont officials talk education recovery
Kedron Brook in Woodstock Village. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The Vermont education system is aiming to implement a statewide effort to get kids back to full-time, in-person learning by the end of the school year, perhaps in April.
On Friday, the state Agency of Education released guidance for the first phase of its recovery plan, which is the assessment of current school conditions. That will be followed by planning, and finally implementation. School districts will partner with state support teams on recovery efforts, according to Vermont Education Secretary Dan French. At a press briefing, French and other officials spoke of the need to return to in-person instruction, emphasizing that the pandemic and months of online education are taking their toll on students.
“It is our hope that by working together through a focused recovery process, we will demonstrate that the Vermont education system has managed both the safety and educational needs of our students better than any education system in the world,” French said.
He said it’s important to move ahead on this work now, because of the impact of increased isolation over the past year.
“The pandemic has been the cause of heightened anxiety and depression among many students,” he said.
State Mental Health Commissioner Sarah Squirrell and Holly Morehouse, executive director of Vermont Afterschool, also addressed the media at the briefing. Squirrell noted that pediatricians across the state reported increased mental health needs in their patients in 2020. There were also more incidents of young people going to the emergency room for mental health reasons.
Morehouse pointed out that going through a full year like this past one, means something very different to a teenager than to an adult. For a young student, she noted, the past year would have normally been full of milestones achieved, as well as social interactions with friends.
“At this critical moment in time, young people need to feel safe and supported to re-engage in learning and recover from this period of loss and isolation,” Morehouse said. “They need not only academic support, but social and emotional support.”
Currently, about 30% of Vermont schools have full-time, in-person instruction, 50% are hybrid, and 20% are fully remote.
French said the timing of the education recovery work coincides with school districts’ normal timing for grant planning. This also takes into account that recovery efforts will continue into the next school year.
“As we build momentum towards full in-person (instruction) this spring, our goal will be to have districts have their priorities identified and plans established prior to June 1,” French said.
He added, “We want districts to be able to focus their grants and spending strategies on the recovery work, and to think about how they might leverage summer activities in particular, to meet the needs of students … I suspect that many districts will utilize summer programming to address non-academic priorities, such as student engagement and social/emotional supports.”
French acknowledged that school employees are “extremely fatigued” and dealing with great stress amid the pandemic.
“Nevertheless, we must find the energy and inspiration to get our kids back full-time, and begin the end of the pandemic,” he said.
Also at Friday’s briefing, Gov. Phil Scott reiterated the goal laid out in his inaugural address last month: returning kids to full-time, in-person instruction by the end of the year, and hopefully by April.
“We have to start assessing the educational, social and emotional impact the pandemic and remote learning has had on our kids,” Scott said. “Then we have to work together to reverse those impacts, as quickly as we possibly can. And that means, in this case, in-person instruction.”
This news comes as Vermont’s vaccination efforts continue to make progress. States have come under some pressure to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to school teachers and staff as a group. In Vermont, officials are keeping options open, in large part because vaccine supply has steadily increased this month, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may get its emergency use authorization this weekend.
So far, Vermont has managed vaccination eligibility by age. Starting Monday, Vermonters age 65 and older can register for their COVID-19 vaccine shot.
State officials recently put out a survey to educators and school staff to gauge the group’s demand for vaccination. The survey is open until Monday.
“It’s going to provide critical information for us to inform the next steps in our vaccination planning,” French said.
— Gareth Henderson
