LAPS News:
The Los Alamos Public Schools sent a survey to all parents and families June 5 requesting feedback about options being considered for starting school safely in August 2020.
Superintendent Kurt Steinhaus explained that communicating with parents is essential and the data from this survey will be useful in planning for the upcoming school year.
“We greatly appreciate parent engagement and feedback on this important topic,” Steinhaus said. “We hope that CDC and state health guidelines will allow us to return to more normal times. Until then, we are planning to provide the best possible high-quality education for all students.”
The survey received 1,865 responses representing 1,202 families from every school in the district and across every grade level.
The results were independently analyzed by Dr. Sharon Fogle, an Instructional Coach with LAPS. Click here for a summary of the results.
Since school as usual is currently not an option, the survey asked parents to give their opinion on the following:
- Option 1: hybrid model where half of the students attend on Monday and Tuesday and the other half attend on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday and Saturday would be used for cleaning and sanitizing.
- Option 2: fully remote learning where children do not come to campus and instruction is through the computer, home projects, hands-on activities, and self-directed work.
For the question “Which option best meets your child’s learning needs if we are not able to have a traditional schedule next year,” 91 percent of responders wanted a hybrid option while the remaining 9 percent preferred a fully remote option.
The learning options are from the LAPS Safe-Start Task Force, a diverse and broadly representative group of staff, parents, students and community members. The Task Force began by considering hundreds of ideas and identified those that were felt to be the most feasible and practical for LAPS parents and families.
Common themes pulled from the survey include considering synchronized schedules for siblings, returning to school full-time, the challenges of working parents, and improving the quality of remote learning. LAPS administration and the Safe-Start Task Force are carefully considering these requests and all comments that were submitted in the survey.
These results have been shared with the Safe-Start Task Force who will use the data as part of their recommendation to the school board to safely start school in August. The data will also aid school principals as they outline specific procedures for reopening schools. Additionally, the survey results have been emailed to all LAPS parents.
“We are committed to helping our staff find the time, professional development and resources needed to help everyone succeed,” Steinhaus said. “Let’s work together to provide hands-on minds-on learning experiences for all students in a way that is feasible for both parents and staff.”
