In Laconia, 23% opt to learn at home

LACONIA — When school begins for city students in less than three weeks, about a quarter of the students will be attending school from home.

Superintendent Steve Tucker told the Laconia School Board Tuesday that 1,784 parents informed the School District what education model they wished for their children at the start of the school year on Sept. 9. Of that group 1,244 — or about 70 percent — opted for face-to-face instruction, while 419 — or 23 percent — chose the remote instruction option. Meanwhile, 121 parents said they wanted more information before making a decision.

The Laconia School District is anticipating an enrollment of just under 2,000 students systemwide for the coming school year, Tucker said.

The preference for remote instruction closely mirrors the results of a survey the School District conducted earlier in the summer. That poll showed 21 percent of respondents preferred remote instruction, while 47 percent wanted face-to-face instruction, and 32 percent opted for a hybrid model. The district received 1,047 responses to that survey.

Tucker said it still needs to be determined how many teachers will be required to handle the remote classes and what grade levels and subjects areas will be involved.

Tuesday’s 2¾-hour meeting dealt with a number of COVID-related issues, including the procedures that will be followed if there are any COVID cases, changes in student drop-off and pick-up routines at the city’s three elementary schools, the changes in classroom setups to ensure social distancing, and the need to assess the ventilation system in the district buildings.

Most Laconia students will start off the school year with a hybrid schedule, but the plan calls for resumption of full-time, face-to-face classes as early as the end of September.

The district is in the process of stockpiling personal protective equipment, including face masks — five cloth masks for each student, Assistant Superintendent Amy Hinds said.

Board member Dawn Johnson opposed the face mask mandate for students and staff. Johnson, who is running for a state House seat on the Republican ticket, said the mask mandate – which the board authorized when it approved the school reopening plan earlier this month – would harm students emotionally and cause harmful physical side effects. She said by necessitating face masks the board was infringing on people’s constitutional rights. Johnson voted in favor of the reopening plan at the Aug. 4 meeting and made no comment about the mask-wearing requirement at that time, according to the minutes of the meeting.

There were no comments from other board members following Johnson’s remarks Tuesday.

Later in the meeting Tucker reiterated what he had said when he presented the reopening plan two weeks ago – that students will only have to wear masks when they are closer than 6 feet to each other.

Tucker also told the board that, in the event there were a COVID case in the district, school officials would immediately contact state public health officials and would take whatever steps the state directed.

Changes afoot

The principals of two of the city’s elementary schools informed the board there will be changes in the traffic patterns used by parents who drive their children to and from school.

Laconia, like other districts around the state, is asking parents to bring their children to school and home again in order to free up space on school buses, which are able to carry only a fraction of their normal capacity because of social-distancing requirements.

The most significant change will be at Elm Street School, where Principal Tara Beauchemin said parents will no longer be able to drop off or pick up their children at the school’s entrance. Instead, they will need to bring their children to Jefferson Street, where they will be met by members of the school staff and escorted to the school two blocks away. To make sure students keep the proper social distance, giant, tiger-orange paw prints have been painted on the sidewalk every 6 feet.

Changes, though not as extensive, will also be in place at Pleasant Street School, Principal David Levesque said.

Air exchange evaluation

The board also approved two expenditures prompted by the COVID crisis.

The district received permission to spend up to $40,000 to have the engineering consulting firm RFS Engineering, of Laconia, perform the first phase of a study of the ventilation systems in each of the district’s six buildings.

Bob Champlin, a special assistant to the superintendent, said engineers would study what the systems in the buildings were designed to do, and what the air-handling capabilities of those systems are.

Experts say one way to reduce the chance of the spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 is to bring more outside air into a building because outdoor air dilutes indoor contaminants.

“We want to find out what the air-exchange rate is in our buildings,” Champlin said.

Some systems bring in less outdoor air when there is reduced occupancy inside a building or particular room because that kind of efficiency reduces energy costs.

“But now we should be looking at the best air exchange rate as we can get, rather than what is the least-expensive method,” Champlin said.

He said once the engineers are finished surveying the ventilation systems’ capabilities the next step would be to do an assessment, which would require an additional expenditure.

The board also approved spending $13,000 for a one-year contract to allow the district to provide teleconferencing services on Zoom.

Tucker said the money for both the ventilation study and Zoom contract will be paid out of money the district received from the federal COVID stimulus bill passed in March.