As the country deals with the Omicron surge, Richardson ISD is working to keep classrooms open because it does not have the resources to staff remote learning classes.
According to a report by The Dallas Morning News, the district says that it has been dealing with a high number of teachers and staff testing positive for the virus and, consequently, does not have enough staff for in-person classes or remote conferencing.
The report said that RISD sent a letter to elementary school parents asking them to be patient as the district works through staffing shortages and increasing COVID cases among staff and students.
The letter explains that the district has been battling a critical shortage of teachers and substitutes due to the high number of teachers and staff testing positive for COVID. The letter also said that the district is currently using all available teaching support for in-person learning and does not have additional teachers to cover remote learning.
“RISD is currently deploying all available teaching support toward in-person classrooms with the goal of keeping schools open, and there are not currently additional teachers available for remote conferencing,” the letter read.
Initially, students who tested positive for COVID-19 were offered remote learning through “COVID support teachers” during quarantine if they felt well enough to learn, according to Tim Clark, a spokesperson for RISD.
The COVID-support teacher provided online lessons to these students to ensure they did not fall behind on their grade-level education. The lessons included “direct instruction in reading and math, and assigned lessons in other subjects through online portals with learning resources,” Clark said.
However, with the scarcity of staff and teachers, remote classes have been put on hold.
Per The Dallas Morning News, the letter added that quarantined students can now make up the work missed following standard absentee guidelines when they return to school.