On Monday, April 20, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio school students will continue to go to school remotely through the end of the school year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The last day of school for North Royalton students is May 27.
In a press release from the Governor, issued April 20, he stated that “we balanced many issues in arriving at this decision. In the end, I believe this is what is best to protect the health of our children, our teachers, and our administrators. While our buildings are closed, we know that students continue to learn in new and innovative ways. I thank all of our teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents for all they have done and will continue to do in these challenging times.”
Prior to that announcement, North Royalton School Superintendent, Greg Gurka announced at the April 13 School Board meeting that the district was continuing to plan as if schools would be closed for the rest of the year, working with the building administrators on how grades will be determined in the fourth quarter, and at the Middle School and High School level, how final grades would be determined. Currently, the teachers have been grading as they normally would. “In the event we are canceled for the rest of the school year, those grades will be used to determine a pass/fail grade for the quarter.”
The pass/fail grade applies to all North Royalton School District students, from kindergarten through grade 12. The decision as to how each district would handle the situation was left to each district, not a state mandate. Gurka noted that students are being monitored for participation, via Google classroom. Teachers know if a student is logged in. All students have been equipped with computers, or have other options for the student to stay current. If the student doesn’t participate by logging in, the teacher contacts them. If that student continues not to log in, the principal then intervenes. As far as the High School students are concerned, the final grade will be a combination of the first three quarters and the midterm, although if they do not participate in the fourth quarter, the grade will be lowered.
In a communication broadcast, Gurka noted that “ we have started to plan for a process to have students/parents come into the buildings to clean out lockers and desks of personal items and for the return of athletic/band uniforms and equipment. We need to carefully plan for this to make sure that we have safe social distancing practices and limit the number of individuals in a building at any given time.”
“In the coming days/week, we will be communicating what the next steps will be as we turn our focus to ending the year, saying goodbye to our students and closing out buildings for the summer,” said Gurka. “In the meantime, please stay safe and stay healthy. Thank you for your support for our students and staff.”
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer