Albany Schools Might Suspend In Class Learning For Some Students

Most schools are planning a hybrid of in-school learning and remote learning with an option for all remote learning if the parents decided that is what they want. Well, according to the Times Union, parents of 7th through 12th graders might not have any options except remote learning.

Albany Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams has proposed that all general education students in 7th through 12th grade only received remote learning for the 2020-21 school year. No, it's not because of the coronavirus...well not directly. The school district is facing a huge budget deficit as high as $26 million this year because of cuts in state and federal funding.

Here are the general points that were laid out in a PowerPoint presentation by Albany Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams

• All general education students in grades 7-12 would enroll in a fully virtual instructional model. No in-person or "hybrid" option would be available for general education students at the secondary level.
• All students in grade 6 would enroll in an elementary learning model with attendance in person five days a week unless a family chooses the fully virtual instructional model.
• Elementary students from pre-K through grade 5 would continue as planned — five days in-person or five days virtual, per each family’s choice.
• Special education students in K-12 would continue to attend school in-person five days a week.
• These programmatic changes would result in reductions in staff positions, including administrators, faculty, and staff.
• We are in the process of evaluating the exact number of positions and the exact budget implications of state aid reductions.

The Albany school board will consider these changes at next week's meeting. No date was given for students returning to classroom learning under the proposed plan.