Baldwin Community Schools Opts for Remote Learning Until Mid-January

Baldwin Community Schools just made the decision to continue with virtual classes until Jan. 15.

The district started the year with remote learning, and the school board decided Tuesday to continue with that plan.

Baldwin Community Schools Superintendent Rick Heitmeyer says the district considered bringing students back into the classroom, but as they watched coronavirus cases in the area rise and other schools close, they made the decision to continue with remote learning.

“We want to keep our kids, our staff, our community, our families safe, and we think that going remote is a way to do that. We want to be consistent, we started this way and we’re having some success,” Heitmeyer said.

Some parents like Mark Cole say remote learning has been an adjustment, with some bumps along the way, but they feel the school made the right call.

“We wouldn’t have sent our children back to school if they had gone to a non-virtual format so I’m glad to see they have especially seeing the uptick in the state COVID rate and the uptick in our local COVID rates,” Cole said.

Sinda Heighton said, “We were torn if we sent them to school if not because they were talking about doing it one way or the other, and we felt the kids need the teachers but they don’t want to get sick either.”

The district will also distribute Wi-Fi devices to help families struggling with internet access, and they hope to make a decision about what learning will look like after Jan. 15, sometime before Christmas break.

“We know it’s not a perfect system, remote learning is not perfect, but at this point we think it’s the best choice for our kids and we’re going to work hard to close that connectivity gap and allow people to feel successful. At this point we think we think this is probably the wisest route to go,” Heitmeyer said.