Gov. Eric Holcomb and state education officials on Thursday announced that all K-12 schools in Indiana will remain on remote learning through the remainder of the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move, which extends the governor’s previous order to close schools until May 1 and cancels all academic testing for the rest of the school year, mandates that no in-person instruction take place at schools in Indiana and all schools in the state remain closed, said Indiana Superintendent of Public Education Jennifer McCormick during a press conference on Thursday.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association also has canceled all spring sports for the remainder of the school year.
“Today, I am announcing that all K-12 schools in Indiana shall provide instruction via remote learning for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year,” she said. “…It’s going to take a collective effort to save lives, and schools must do their part.”
Schools will still need to meet the 160-day requirement for school instruction days, according to the executive order, although the state has given schools a 20-day waiver at the first announcement of remote learning.
Additionally, school corporations will need to submit a continuous learning plan to the state by April 17 that signals to families, students and policymakers the type of instruction taking place during remote learning, McCormick said.
The decision from state officials comes amid a statewide stay-at-home order that restricts non-essential business and travel in the state as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to rise.
On March 19, when Holcomb announced the first order to close schools, there were 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, two deaths and no cases reported in Bartholomew County.
As of Thursday, COVID-19 had been detected in all but eight of Indiana’s 92 counties, with 3,039 confirmed cases and 78 deaths statewide. There are 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bartholomew County.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Superintendent Jim Roberts said BCSC students will continue doing eLearning on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the remainder of the school year.
The school year is still expected to end in late May as initially planned, but a final date hasn’t been selected, Roberts said.
Currently, BCSC officials are still pinning down more details regarding state requirements on grades and GPAs for graduating seniors, but seniors enrolled in courses that would qualify them to graduate will graduate as expected, Roberts said.
“Our understanding that students who are on track for graduation, including taking courses right now that would qualify them to graduate, that being enrolled in those courses will allow them to graduate,” he said. “Any student who is currently taking classes to graduate, they are going to be allowed to do that.”
In addition, BCSC officials expect to receive 100 mobile WIFI hotspot devices in the coming days and plan to distribute them to students who do not have a reliable internet connection at home.
Some internet access is accessible from some school parking lots if parents can get their children there, Roberts said.
Currently, around 70% of BCSC students have appropriate internet access at home, Roberts said. Of the remaining 30% of students, 20% have some kind of internet access, but not necessarily robust enough for doing school work. BCSC officials believe the remaining 10% do not have internet access.
“That is a challenge,” Roberts said. “…We’re looking at every other option that’s available out there. That’s one of the things that as a state, whether that’s the (Indiana) Department of Education or the Superintendent’s Association, we are asking for different ideas to increase that access.”
Roberts said the governor’s decision was an “appropriate and important” thing to do and feels empathy for the students and families who are going through a difficult time and graduating seniors who may not get to experience many of the celebrations in the same way they otherwise would have.
“When (students) left on Wednesday, March 11, I’m sure that none of us realized that we wouldn’t be returning to school for the remainder of this year,” Roberts said. “And most (students), after a period time, even if it’s just several weeks, they want to get back and see their teachers, see their friends, participate in life as normal as a student and they’re just not able to do that and that’s sad to me.”
