5:50 a.m. Friday update
Today is a straight day of work-at-home eLearning for the 11,500-student Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., the district announced Thursday night.
With BCSC’s decision, other Columbus schools also announced that school buildings would not be open Friday.
St. Bartholomew Catholic School also announced a third straight eLearning Day.
Three preschools are also closed today: First Presbyterian, Learning Tree and Faith Lutheran, although Faith Lutheran will offer child care today.
St. Peter’s Lutheran School will operate today with a 2-hour delay.
Here is the BCSC district’s announcement, posted Thursday night on its website:
Thursday, April 5, 2018
After consultation with local officials, due to the number of current road closures (16) and the expected time to clean up debris as roads may be reopened, BCSC will again be CLOSED, tomorrow, Friday, April 6, 2018. We will make up the day by conducting an eLearning Day. (We have no remaining scheduled make up days on our school calendar for this year.)
For more information about an eLearning Day, please visit our eLearning website, http://bcscelearningday.weebly.com/, and look for notices from your child’s teachers and administrators.
We do recognize that some students may not have an electronic device and/or Internet access at home. Given this, students will have until Wednesday, April 11, 2018 to complete all assigned learning objectives.
The designated buildings of Southside, Northside, and Columbus East will NOT be open tomorrow for students to access wifi. However, EVERY building will have staff members available if a student comes in to get his/her device.
Original posting
A third day of work-at-home eLearning for the 11,500 Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. students was a possibility, the district’s top official said mid-day Thursday.
But that decision would have to wait until late Thursday for school, law enforcement and Emergency Management officials to determine how safe it would be to have 140 school buses on the road this morning. The school buses travel city streets and narrow rural roads.
Rising water levels that began Tuesday resulted in the Columbus-based district closing school buildings Wednesday and Thursday, Superintendent Jim Roberts said.
“As we run those buses, that impedes our ability to effectively transport our kids,” Roberts said of the high water levels, which closed 15 roads Thursday and resulted in warnings for motorists about traveling on five others.
Roberts said the decision to have a second eLearning day was made after talking with city and county officials, law enforcement, the Bartholomew County Emergency Management agency and two other school administrators — Steve Forster, director of operations, and Larry Perkinson, employee and student assistance coordinator.
There are no make-up days left on this year’s school district calendar this year, meaning any closure of schools automatically results in an eLearning day, Roberts said.
While it’s possible that the school year could be extended, that would mean going to the school board and asking to have more days added to the school calendar, the superintendent said. However, Roberts said he prefers not to do that because of the impact on families and the possibility of having to change high school graduation dates.
Scheduling classes on a Saturday would be permitted, but that isn’t an option the district is exploring, he said.
“We have invested a lot of time in developing an eLearning system that’s productive for students,” Roberts said. “Our teachers and students are prepared for situations like this.”
Students in grades 1 to 12 have used the district’s online platform to do practice assignments in preparation for scenarios when an eLearning day is called, Roberts said.
“There’s a lot of flexibility in making up time. We believe the answer is to have eLearning,” he said.
Roberts credited teachers across the district for coming up with assignments for their students that engage learning.
“Our goal is to make it productive as possible … and that we don’t miss a beat,” he said
Roberts also said most of the feedback the district has received through emails and phone calls has been about technology questions, although some individuals have expressed frustration about having an eLearning day on social media.
Roberts compared this week’s high-water problems with having a snow day. Students stay home in both situations, and neither should have a major impact on parents and other caretakers, he said.
Instead of just being out of school, the district is attempting to have students continue to learn by having an eLearning day, he said.
The district’s first two days of eLearning this week have been positive for teachers and students overall, said Greg Lewis, chairman of the social studies teacher at Columbus East High School.
The eLearning program allows educators to be flexible with activities tied to their current lessons, he said.
“It’s not like a one size-fits-all, and that’s on the preference of the teachers and their comfort with technology,” Lewis said. “It’s been a very seamless process from that standpoint.”
Roberts, who has been in education for 31 years, said he doesn’t recall ever having to call off school in April or May.
“I don’t anticipate having to worry about (school-cancellation) things too much more,” Roberts said. “But anything’s possible.”
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If your student does not have a device or Internet access at home on an eLearning Day, under normal circumstances three schools will be open:
- Columbus East High School, 230 S. Marr Road, Columbus
- Northside Middle School, 1400 27th St., Columbus
- Southside Elementary School, 1320 West County Road 200S, Columbus
Weather permitting, students also can visit other locations with internet access that are open, including:
- Columbus Youth Camp, 12454 W. Youth Camp Road, Columbus
- Harrison Township Fire Department, 9441 W. Old Nashville Road, Columbus
- Southwestern Bartholomew Volunteer Fire Department, 8500 E. State Road 58, Columbus (Ogilville)
- Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus
- United Way of Bartholomew County, 1531 13th St., Columbus
- The Ridge, 2800 Bonnell Road, Columbus
- Westside Community Church, 124 Tipton Lakes Boulevard, Columbus (closed on Fridays)
- Foundation for Youth, 405 Hope Ave., Columbus ($10 per day)
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“We have invested a lot of time in developing an eLearning system that’s productive for students. Our teachers and students are prepared for situations like this.”
— Jim Roberts, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. superintendent
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Check therepublic.com for news on status of Friday classes for BCSC students
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