Royal High School students struggle with online engagement

ROYAL CITY — Getting some students to engage in remote learning at the high school level has been a challenge, said the report given Royal School District’s Executive Director of Student and Teacher Services Linda Achondo during an online meeting of the Royal School Board on Monday, Sept. 28. The engagement by students who are doing 100 percent online learning varies by grade. The most concerning group is at the high school level.

Royal High School Principal Courtney McCoy told the board that 130 high school students started the school year doing full online learning. That number has decreased by approximately 10 students so far.

“We’re slowly bringing kids back that will come back,” McCoy said. “We put them in a hybrid schedule.”

Of the 120 high school students currently enrolled in 100 percent online learning, 20 percent are checking in daily. Another 20 percent “wiggle in and out,” according to McCoy. It is the remaining 60 percent of online students that have McCoy, Achondo and other district staff concerned.

Over the past two weeks of school, district staff has been finding various ways, including phone calls and home visits, to let students know that engagement in classes is not optional, if they want to pass their classes. McCoy said that one family she spoke with knew that their student needed to get online, but were “struggling to make the commitment to get on and partake.”

“We didn’t sugar coat it,” McCoy said. “If you don’t engage, you don’t pass. That’s another semester in school.”

They are also telling families that after 20 days of not engaging in class work, students will be considered truant.

“I’m concerned,” McCoy said. “It’s different than the traditional school we’re used to, where you can activate support. It’s different than having all kids on campus. We’re trying to walk the line between ‘please engage now’ and ‘if you don’t engage now, you don’t earn credit.’”

Royal School Board President Craig Janett asked district staff to start putting together a plan to bring students back into the classroom full time. Superintendent Roger Trail said that the principals in the district were meeting this week to start discussing what that could look like. Trail thinks that the district may start 100 percent in-person instruction with the elementary school and work its way up to the high school level.

“Hopefully by then the numbers will come down and the health department will ease the six-foot rule,” Trail said.

Trail and district staff present for the online meeting expressed their gratitude at school being open and their pride at how well staff has adjusted to the new challenges the school year has brought.

“Our teachers are working extremely hard,” said David Jaderlund, principal of Royal Middle School.

Janett expressed the board’s gratitude for the work district staff is doing.

“We are well aware of the amount of time required to make all these changes for the mode of operation,” he said.

Board member Dan Miller echoed that, saying that the best thing that could happen is to reopen school full-time.

“We have been trailblazers this year,” Miller said. “Our protocols (surrounding COVID-19) seem to be working. The more we get kids in school, the more participation we will have. We need to make up for the learning missed in the last few months of last year.”

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.