Photo Provided – Ohio County Schools administrators meet to discuss the school system’s five-day classroom reentry plan. Shown in front, from left, are Warwood School Principal Joey Subasic and Assistant Principal Jim Rowing. Ohio County Schools Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones is shown in back.

WHEELING — Brittni Scott says six of her eight children are students within Ohio County Schools, and they have done well under the school district’s plans for remote learning.

She wonders why the school district is making changes now in how they provide at-home education to students.

“To be honest if it wasn’t working, I wouldn’t care about the change,” she said. “But it is working. Why fix something that isn’t broken?”

Plans are being developed and changed daily where needed as Ohio County Schools prepares to bring students back to the classrooms later this month.

But not all parents want to send their children back to school buildings as COVID numbers remain high, and the school district knows it must continue to offer remote learning alternatives. Those options, however, are being changed for the second semester.

Parents have until Friday to make their decision, then complete and return a survey to Ohio County Schools.

Elementary and middle school students are set to return for five days of in school learning per week beginning Jan. 19, while pre-K students will continue to follow the four-day schedule with Wednesdays off, school officials announced this week.

The remote learning plan for these younger students who remain at home, though, doesn’t radically change, explained JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools.

For the first semester, elementary and middle school students communicated with their regular teachers for online assignments. This will change after five-day in-person education resumes.

Some teachers already employed by the district who teach during the day in the classroom will be offered a supplemental contract to place lessons online for and interact with remote learners in the evenings, Shay said. She said the number of teachers needed won’t be known until all surveys have been returned.

It is likely one specific teacher will be assigned to students all at one grade level, according to Shay. For instance, all first grade students in the county would be interacting with the same teacher, who likely isn’t their regular everyday teacher.

Initially it was announced band and string classes would not continue online for remote students, but school officials made a decision Tuesday to continue those programs at the elementary and middle schools, Shay said.

Five-day per week in-person learning for students at Wheeling Park High School, will resume Jan. 25, while remote learners will find themselves having to use a different online platform for lessons. Students also must make a full-semester commitment to learning at home if they choose remote learning.

WPHS will switch from the Schoology platform to Edmentum — a second platform already used by the school and students for credit recovery, according to principal Meredith Dailer.

“The program is self-paced for students to be able to log on whenever it is good for them,” she said. “All of our students will be assigned a teacher who will facilitate the program. They will be there to help support the students if they need any help.”

About 75 percent of courses offered at WPHS are offered on Edmentum, Dailer said. Those not available are mostly career and technical class electives requiring hands-on work and instruction.

“Within the core classes, they will be able to take just about everything they currently are taking,” Dailer said. “Within the electives, it becomes a little more difficult. But we are pleased with the number of courses we can match with our students.”

WPHS is currently making appointments with families wishing their children to learn from home, and Dailer said about 30 are scheduled. The families will meet with a school administrator or counselor to discuss the remote program and its requirements. The student’s second semester schedule is reviewed and matched with Edmentum courses.

“We are asking families to make a semester commitment,” she said. “At the high school, our credits are based on semesters and we feel it is best that students be in one platform and receive all their lessons that way for the semester.

“For us, we are trying very hard to balance having our students return to the building, keeping staff and students safe, and also providing a high-end education for students who need to stay remote. With this shift, we can meet all those things for the second semester.”

Scott said she has a child in pre-kindergarten, one in kindergarten, a fourth grade student at Steenrod Elementary, sixth and seventh grade students at Triadelphia Middle School, and a 10th grader at WPHS. She has a toddler and a newborn at home.

She plans to approach the Ohio County Board of Education with a letter she has written stating her concerns when the board meets at 6 p.m. Monday at the board office, 2203 National Road, Elm Grove.

Scott describes herself as “high risk,” and said her family “has been on strict lockdown since March.” All of her children have been learning remotely.

“Our children have been bonding with and becoming accustomed to their own teachers and classmates. Not anymore,” she said. “Our kids will be placed with unfamiliar teachers who will have completely different teaching styles, executions, and expectations.”

Scott said she has been impressed with the performance and learning success achieved by her children since they have been learning remotely.

“My kindergartner is now able to read beginner books, and all phonics and sight words were taught to her virtually by her teachers,” she said. “My preschooler is able to write and type his name on his iPad.

“I was very concerned about my daughter’s ability to do band class virtually, but the improvement is evident by hearing the videos she submits to her teacher and hearing his feedback back to her.”

Scott was disheartened to hear the initial announcement that band and strings education would not be available to elementary and middle school students online. Her fear was her family would next have to invest in private music lessons for her children.

Superintendent Kimberly Miller met Monday with school system administrators to discuss the school system’s reentry plan. Building principals made their staff members aware of the plan Monday afternoon, and Ohio County Schools utilized the school system’s callout system later that evening to make parents aware of the plan.

Miller said parents do have the option to keep their children at home and take part in the Ohio County Schools Remote Learning Program. Parents interested should contact their home school.

“Our students need to be in school, and we can do it safely,” Miller said. “We need to do this for our kids, and we are doing it for the right reasons.

“I met with West Virginia Superintendent Clayton Burch, and we agree that students need to be in school, and the statistics support that. We believe the students being out of the classroom is doing more harm than good. In-person instruction is what our students need, and they need their teachers now more than ever.”

Ohio County Schools will continue to follow COVID-19 guidelines, according to Miller. She noted that student absences due to quarantine will be treated as sick days.