100 signatures reached
To: HASD Superintendent Tammy Wolicki and School Board
Petition to Reverse Attendance Policy for HACA Elementary Program and All Online Secondary Programs
This petition asks Superintendent Tammy Wolicki and the HASD School Board to reverse the recent amendment to the attendance policy for the HACA Elementary Program and all online secondary programs. We would like the attendance policy to return to the standard of completion of all work by the following day as the standard for marking students present. The new mandatory standard, which requires students to be present in live, synchronous sessions is unfair to working parents and the students receiving education online.
Why is this important?
The reasons for requesting this reversal are as follows:
1. This policy places an unnecessary burden on working parents during an already stressful situation due to the pandemic. For the HACA programs: Many working parents chose HACA for a variety of reasons, but a majority chose to do so due to health concerns for their children and family members. Working parents have rearranged their lives and work schedule in order to make sure their children succeed in the HACA program. And, many chose the HACA program over others in order to keep their tax dollars in the district. For all online education: To change this policy now, only 9 weeks into the year, may force parents to choose between their jobs and their children’s education/health or to move their children to an asynchronous cyber program outside of the district.
2. For HACA Program: The decision to change this policy should not have been made AFTER parents were required to commit to another 9 week term of the HACA cyber program.
3. I would direct you to the Intercultural Development Research Program’s guidelines for equitable teaching in an online environment: https://www.idra.org/services/ensuring-equity-in-online-learning-considerations-in-response-to-covid-19s-impact-on-schooling/. A lot of research has emphasized that asynchronous online teaching is the best practice for maintaining equity, because the requirement of synchronous learning widens the gap for students who do not have easy access to the internet or whose parents’ work situation requires flexibility.
4. The Department of Education lists the completion of work by the following day as a way to record attendance. In fact, they define attendance in the following terms: “students' physical exposure to or contact with learning activities.” Completion of work the following day meets this standard as outlined in Table 2: Sample decision matrix for remote learning days. For this information, see the DOE website on attendance: https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/SchoolReopeningGuidance/ReopeningPreKto12/CreatingEquitableSchoolSystems/FocusEffectiveInstruction/Assessment/Pages/Attendance.aspx.
5. For HACA Elementary: There is NO asynchronous option for elementary cyber education as there is at the secondary level. Without this option, it is unethical to require students to attend live, synchronous classes.
It is for these reasons that we request the reversal of the attendance policy. We only ask that the district act in a fair and equitable manner that does not put undue stress on working families as well as those without consistent technological access. The district has repeatedly respected the needs of parents in the school district by opening brick and mortar elementary schools for 5 days a week and voting to keep schools open despite the recommendation by the Department of Health. We ask that Superintendent Wolicki and the HASD School Board do the same for cyber parents, respecting the unique needs and challenges for those enrolled in the HACA program. In addition, at the secondary level, students must follow the flex A/B schedule which requires student attendance online without considering the adjustment families must make to accommodate this hybrid format. The reversal of this new attendance policy will be the best way for parents, especially working parents, to help their children succeed in an online schooling environment.
1. This policy places an unnecessary burden on working parents during an already stressful situation due to the pandemic. For the HACA programs: Many working parents chose HACA for a variety of reasons, but a majority chose to do so due to health concerns for their children and family members. Working parents have rearranged their lives and work schedule in order to make sure their children succeed in the HACA program. And, many chose the HACA program over others in order to keep their tax dollars in the district. For all online education: To change this policy now, only 9 weeks into the year, may force parents to choose between their jobs and their children’s education/health or to move their children to an asynchronous cyber program outside of the district.
2. For HACA Program: The decision to change this policy should not have been made AFTER parents were required to commit to another 9 week term of the HACA cyber program.
3. I would direct you to the Intercultural Development Research Program’s guidelines for equitable teaching in an online environment: https://www.idra.org/services/ensuring-equity-in-online-learning-considerations-in-response-to-covid-19s-impact-on-schooling/. A lot of research has emphasized that asynchronous online teaching is the best practice for maintaining equity, because the requirement of synchronous learning widens the gap for students who do not have easy access to the internet or whose parents’ work situation requires flexibility.
4. The Department of Education lists the completion of work by the following day as a way to record attendance. In fact, they define attendance in the following terms: “students' physical exposure to or contact with learning activities.” Completion of work the following day meets this standard as outlined in Table 2: Sample decision matrix for remote learning days. For this information, see the DOE website on attendance: https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/SchoolReopeningGuidance/ReopeningPreKto12/CreatingEquitableSchoolSystems/FocusEffectiveInstruction/Assessment/Pages/Attendance.aspx.
5. For HACA Elementary: There is NO asynchronous option for elementary cyber education as there is at the secondary level. Without this option, it is unethical to require students to attend live, synchronous classes.
It is for these reasons that we request the reversal of the attendance policy. We only ask that the district act in a fair and equitable manner that does not put undue stress on working families as well as those without consistent technological access. The district has repeatedly respected the needs of parents in the school district by opening brick and mortar elementary schools for 5 days a week and voting to keep schools open despite the recommendation by the Department of Health. We ask that Superintendent Wolicki and the HASD School Board do the same for cyber parents, respecting the unique needs and challenges for those enrolled in the HACA program. In addition, at the secondary level, students must follow the flex A/B schedule which requires student attendance online without considering the adjustment families must make to accommodate this hybrid format. The reversal of this new attendance policy will be the best way for parents, especially working parents, to help their children succeed in an online schooling environment.