PEACH COUNTY, Ga. — Peach County Superintendent Lionel Brown decided to offer two learning options for students this year.
"If there are some disconnect or deficits that our children are facing, we're going to do our best to connect the dots for them," he said.
The options are 100% remote learning, or a hybrid mix between in-person instruction and distance learning.
"Be able to get half the students in on the A session on Monday and Tuesday, the other half of the students in on the B session Thursday and Fridays. The Wednesdays would be dedicated to teacher planning, collaboration, [and] also any online help and online classes they feel necessary," Brown said.
A parent wrote in to the 13WMAZ Facebook page wanting to know how the district plans to depend on digital learning since some people have limited internet availability at home.
"Try to provide some hot spots and WiFi connectivity on some of, for example, churches, community centers. We've had a number of people who've volunteered and said, 'You can hook up the WiFi here,'" Brown said.
He's thinking of an alternative plan for students who just won't be able to get consistent, reliable internet access.
"Trying to provide hard copies for those students [or] uploading work on those little thumb drives weekly or every other week, so that they can do their work without having to have internet capability and trying to figure out a way they can turn their work in and get feedback from their teachers," he said.
Brown is asking for parents' patience and understanding as they work out the details over the next couple of weeks.
"We just need the parents to work with us in a collaborative way, because I feel like we can come up with a good solution," Brown said.
They used money from the state's COVID-19 relief fund to order Chromebooks. Those are on back order due to the high demand for devices at this time.
Brown is encouraging parents to call them with any questions, comments or concerns they have with plans for the upcoming school year.
Peach County students start back on Aug. 27. The district's next board meeting is Aug. 4th at 1 p.m. at Peach County High School.
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