T-R file photo Marshalltown School District officials announced the cancellation of class for students from Monday to Friday in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Marshalltown Community School District “one-stop-shop” website is under creation for parents to use for their children during the extended school closure.

District director of instruction Lisa Stevenson said they are creating a comprehensive website to use for the voluntary education. This will make the voluntary education of students at home easier for parents.

“It can be done at a time that is convenient for parents,” she said.

Stevenson said it also important to note that students will not be graded.

Parents will not have to worry so much about working and teaching their children from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lessons can be accessed and taught at any time.

The paper packets will be provided for the families that do not have internet access. Stevenson said plans are being made on how to get those packets to the families. The packets will be customized for grade levels. She said the details have not been set yet, but some options for getting those to families are making them available at the school buildings where lunches are being provided.

Another option is putting the packets on the lunch-delivery buses. However, Stevenson said she does not want the lunch delivery people to use a lot of time getting the right packets to the students.

Reaching out to businesses in town to help distribute the packets is another thing under consideration. Stevenson said the district will look in to the possibility of having the packets available at gas stations or grocery stores for parents to pick up.

The plan is to have the packets to people by Tuesday. The original date the district was shooting for was Monday, but the Good Friday holiday will not make that possible.

This is certainly new and fast-moving territory for the school district, which is following the Thursday recommendation of Gov. Kim Reynolds to extend school closures to April 30.

Stevenson said on Friday the Iowa Department of Education gave public school districts the choice of whether or not to engage in continuous learning. The continuous learning options was either voluntary or required. The state department also gave districts a deadline of Friday to make the decision on what would be done and to inform the state about the plan.

‘Crisis schooling’

Stevenson said neither the website nor the paper packets will replace the interaction with the educators.

“Teachers are still available through email, to reach out and talk to,” she said. “Most teachers have been able to make contact with families and they are concerned about the families they have not heard from yet.”

There is a language barrier when it comes to establishing contact with some of those families. The Marshalltown Community School District is utilizing a three-way calling device called Language Live. It allows teachers, principals and secretaries to communicate with families through interpreters on the phone.

“If we have a family who speaks Congolese, and there is no one in Marshalltown fluent to speak that, we use Language Live,” Stevenson said. “We are also partnering with EMBARC in Des Moines and we are so grateful to them. They are supporting our language needs with southeast Asian families.”

So how will this situation impact education for the next school year?

That is something that is weighing heavily on the minds of Marshalltown Community School District educators.

“I have heard a term calling this ‘crisis schooling’ and that is what this feels like,” Stevenson said. “It is hard to replicate a classroom for a 5-year-old in an online setting. This also can’t be as rich as traditional home schools because they can’t go explore museums. We hope to keep students engaged and hope we are picking content for them that is interesting and exciting.”

Credits for graduation are not being lifted but Stevenson said the senior students who were on the path for graduation are still moving forward. They will not lose the credits and will still be able to graduate.

“Teachers are trying to keep everything going, especially for seniors,” she said. “Every one of them as of March 5 had registered for courses that kept them on track for graduation. In terms of what is expected for the child, reach out to the high school guidance counselor. Everyone is willing and ready to help.”