The 2021 Success Plan is ready for approval by the Shelby Eastern Schools board.

“The plan is a scaled-back version of what we did last year,” said Shelby Eastern superintendent Todd Hitchcock. “There are fewer mitigation strategies and masks will be an option for students and parents. We are trying to find ways for what I would consider the least restrictive environment for students so they can walk in the building and not feel like they have to do things differently.”

Masks were required during the 2020-2021 school year in Morristown and Waldron – both under the Shelby Eastern Schools banner. Social distancing also was encouraged whenever possible.

And while students riding buses may still have to wear masks due to a federal mandate, Hitchcock believes face coverings will be optional on school grounds in 2021-2022.

“The idea is that would be how we would start the year,” he continued. “We would monitor the situation in our plan and if we determine that we see an increase in cases or COVID rises in our county, we can always reinstitute some of the precautions we had in place the previous year.”

In March of 2020, school systems in Indiana were forced to use virtual learning to complete the final two months of the school year. While Shelby Eastern was prepared for the change, both school systems took time to make sure their educators were ready.

“We were in decent shape in that we had already established Google Classroom as our student management system,” said Hitchcock. “So basically our teachers had all received training on how to use Google Classroom for distance learning and how they could upload assignments and grade assignments and get the feedback. So I felt like we were a step ahead.

“The challenge was none of our teachers relied on that for daily instruction. So there definitely was a learning curve there. When we first shut down last year, we took one or two days as staff days so they could get prepared to finish virtually. That was helpful for them so they could put together things and refresh where they were at and what they wanted to do with the virtual setup they had.”

Due to a federal mandate, students will most likely start the new school year wearing masks or face coverings while riding a school bus.

Most of the student body in both school systems returned at the start of the 2020-2021 year.

“We had a pretty low percentage of students that were virtual. I think we started the year with about 9% or 10% of our student body being virtual students,” said Hitchcock. “That decreased significantly as the school year progressed. As parents saw that things were going smooth at school, more and more sent their kids back. So by the time the year ended, we were down to 2% or 3% of our student body doing virtual learning.”

And now Hitchcock believes virtual learning can be an added compliment to Shelby Eastern’s educational track.

“I think it puts us in a unique position that we now have a new skill set amongst our staff where they are highly trained and practiced virtual teachers so they can reintegrate that skill into the on-site person learning that is taking place in our building,” he said. “Long term, I think we will be better off for having to struggle through that a little bit because of the added benefit it will provide our teachers and students.”

The next step is sorting out what effects COVID-19 had on student learning in the two districts.

“In general, the kids who were here every day did not suffer from learning loss,” said Hitchcock. “We noticed when all the kids came back in the fall, our first sets of diagnostic data were a little bit behind where we thought they would be. And in most cases, those achievements were gained back to where we thought they should be.

“You will see a big state dip in the averages for the standardized testing and our standardized test scores. While we don’t have anything to compare them to yet, if you compare them to our rates in years past, it was lower in many areas. But we don’t know if that is just us or the whole state. We assume it’s the whole state, but we don’t know yet because they haven’t released that data yet.”

The superintendent agrees virtual learning is here to stay – that doesn’t make it right for every community though.

“I think there is definitely a market for virtual education,” he said. “I think in our communities, there is still a lot of strong support for the small rural schools and I think we benefit from that a little bit.

“I think the best approach in the year 2021 is a hybrid model where you have a strong in-person learning component supported by virtual learning and opportunities for students to participate virtually as they go through their schooling. I am still a strong advocate for having kids in school every day, especially at the younger ages. I feel that is the best place for them to be – to learn from their peers.”

The first day for students in Morristown and Waldron is August 4.