St. Paul middle and high school students return to their classrooms Wednesday after a long 13 months of distance learning.
Well over half of high school students — 57 percent — faced their own mental health challenges while trying to learn from home, according to a district survey.
Half said their learning was disrupted by family members with different schedules, and about one-third had to care for a family member.
Students also complained that their school workload in distance learning was overwhelming and they couldn’t get timely answers from teachers. Many said attending daily classes on Google Meet felt optional.
“It takes a lot to just get up every day when you are constantly on ‘Groundhog Day,’” an unidentified student told the district in a focus group earlier this year.
St. Paul high schoolers recorded twice as many failing grades during the first quarter this school year compared with fall 2019.
Central High School Principal Christine Vang said students haven’t been able to build relationships with peers and teachers, and that has hurt their academic performance.
“They’re just disengaged because there’s not the social-emotional piece of being human, and that interaction is missing for them,” she told the school board Tuesday night.
The district on Feb. 22 began inviting secondary students to school for 2½ hours, one day a week, for in-person social and academic support. It’s helped, Vang said.
“We saw that when students come to on-site support they were engaged, they were motivated,” she said, and some caught up on their work.
Vang said 320 Central seniors now are on track to graduate and 69 are in credit recovery.
The district has said it would offer summer school to any student who wants it.
1 IN 3 STAY HOME
Despite their struggles, 34 percent of the district’s middle and high school students have chosen to continue with distance learning, for now. That should help the schools keep more space between desks as they try to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Since St. Paul elementary students went back to school Feb. 1 and 16, the district has not yet had a coronavirus outbreak — defined by the state Department of Health as five students and staff in the building while infectious in a two-week period.
But the virus, especially the faster-spreading B.1.1.7 strain, has been reaching more young people of late. In the last month, Minnesotans ages 5-14 have seen the largest percentage increase in coronavirus cases, and residents 15-19 have had more positive tests than any other age group.
Superintendent Joe Gothard acknowledged Tuesday that the risk of spread is higher in secondary schools compared with elementary because students’ schedules put them in contact with more people.
“It’s a lot more challenging with our scattered schedules and just the nuances of our secondary schools,” he said, promising “seamless support” for students whose learning is interrupted.
Serious coronavirus cases among young people remain rare. Just one school-age Minnesotan has died of COVID-19, and less than 1 percent of infected young people have been hospitalized.
State and national health officials largely agree that it’s safe for schools to operate, as long as students and staff wear face masks and keep their distance.
SHORT DAY, WEEK
St. Paul will be the last of the state’s 30 largest school districts to reopen its high schools.
Minneapolis reopened high schools Monday and will bring middle schoolers back next week.
Some districts still are on hybrid schedules, however, with just two days of in-person classes each week. The school board for Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan agreed Monday to switch from two days to four days starting next week.
St. Paul and Minneapolis, like most large districts, are reserving one day each week for independent learning from home, which will minimize scheduling changes and allow teachers to work with both in-person and distance learning students. St. Paul also shortened its school day to 4½ hours.