TRI Days are TRI-ing

It is Friday, and one week from now I will be entering the last hour of our first school day with students. Yesterday, we began our District TRI days - days during which staff participates in a number of building- and district-directed discussions, activities, and meetings. We take time to meet in departments and get aligned on various items on the agenda. Today, we discussed two different daily schedule models, and our school's IC (Instructional Council) voted on them. 

Our choices were between two options:

A - Students would attend synchronous classes, during which the teacher and entire class are expected to be signed on to Teams, for 50 minutes, then would go into an asynchronous session for another 50 minutes; This would happen for three classes a day, twice a week (Wednesdays are reserved for Advisory, counseling, etc.).

B - Students would attend 50-minute synchronous sessions in the morning for three classes, then participate in asynchronous learning for those classes during 50-minute sessions in the afternoon; This would happen for three classes a day, twice a week.

The Language Arts team discussed the options at length yesterday, unanimously arriving at schedule B as the preferred schedule. Overall, we determined it to be the most equitable for students who were relying on public wifi (i.e. sitting in a Starbucks parking lot for wifi) and those whose families are relying on them to care for younger siblings and/or work. It would allow us to work with those students and make the schedule work for them. 

Now, after the staff had the opportunity to discuss the schedule together, and my department was even stronger in our conviction despite the arguments others made against our preferred option. So many opinions were being formed based on teachers' and students' experiences in the spring, when we were flung into the remote learning situation without preparation. We also heard that several students preferred option A, but these students were not those "furthest from educational justice" who we needed to keep central to our planning. 

As you may have predicted, our school chose option A. I logged off exhausted and frustrated, after voicing my concerns and opinions to anyone who would listen. I was concerned that the school had just failed a portion of its community, students and teachers alike. I was hopeful that others had clearer foresight than I did, and that they would turn out to be right. I was concerned that they wouldn't.

This was disappointing professionally and personally. Not only did I feel that B would've been more accommodating to students, I also felt it was more accommodating to teaching parents such as myself. It would have allowed me to schedule my asynchronous afternoon activities around also supporting my daughter in her learning. It would have potentially allowed me to employ high school students for child care during those afternoons, based on their schedules and flexibility. Now, I'm not quite sure what we're going to do, and I'm trying not to freak out.