Laconia preps for remote learning through April 3

Mar 15, 2020
Mar 15, 2020 Updated Mar 20, 2020
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Special Meeting — Laconia School Superintendent Steve Tucker, left, talks to members of the Laconia City Council on Sunday about plans to start online learning for many of the city's public school students in the wake of Gov. Chris Sununu's order shutting down schools across the state following a surge in cases of coronavirus in the state. Mayor Andrew Hosmer is at far right. (Michael Mortensen/The Laconia Daily Sun photo)

CONCORD — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu ordered schools in the state closed for a week while districts prepare to teach classes remotely through April 3, a response to the spread of the Coronavirus, which has now infected at least 13 people in the Granite State.

School districts will be given a week to get remote learning systems in place, and when schools reopen on March 23, there will be two weeks of remote teaching through April 3, Sununu said in a Sunday afternoon press conference.

Laconia School Superintendent Steve Tucker said he and school administrators expected to meet well into the night Sunday as they begin to work out details on how the online learning would work.

Tucker was among more that 20 city and community leaders who attended a special Sunday afternoon City Council meeting called to deal with the ramifications of the the governor's announcement.

Tucker said the initial plan is to have online learning for grades 6 through 12. Students in the lower grades would be given paper assignments, he added.

"We are in untrodden territory," Tucker told the meeting. "We're going to need support from students and staff."

Mayor Andrew Hosmer said the city's Community Center will be closed Monday while city officials decide whether the facility should be closed for a longer period or be open, perhaps on a more limited basis.

The center hosts a variety of events every day for children and adults, including the elderly.

Fire Chief Kirk Beattie, the city's emergency management director, said contingency plans are being worked out in the event that Lakes Region General Hospital runs out of bed space. He said Laconia Middle School is one place that could be used as a secondary treatment facility.

LRGHeathcare President Kevin Donovan, who attended via conference call, said there are currently no one cases of coronavirus at either Lakes Region General Hospital or Franklin Regional Hospital.

He said that both hospitals have stopped allowing visitors. He said hospital officials would decide on a case-by-case basis on whether to allow people to visit patients who are in end-of-life care.