As the number of Covid-19 cases increase in Shelby County and Tennessee, some parents want a virtual learning option for students.
But a Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) rule stands in the way of Shelby County Schools (SCS) offering all students virtual learning options.
The rule passed in April lays four conditions that must be met for districts to implement a Continuous Learning Plan (CLP).
The first is that the governor has declared a state of emergency or disaster. Additionally, the emergency or disaster must disrupt the traditional operations of the school district. School districts must also provide notice to the TDOE justificating the implementation. Finally, the TDOE must approve the district’s request.
SCS superintendent Joris Ray said Tuesday that the district “must comply with the law as we continue to push legislators to allow local control.”
Currently, the only virtual learning option for SCS students is through the Memphis Virtual School, which is open to grades 4-12 and not associated with any one school in the district. However, the application period to enroll in the virtual school has ended for this school year.
The school offers asynchronous instruction with no live teacher. The TDOE rule doesn’t allow live synchronous learning, Ray said.
“It’s not a choice of this superintendent or this school board,” Ray said. “We’re just trying to arm this community with facts.”
As SCS explores ways to petition the state to allow the implementation of CLP, Ray encourages parents to share concerns about in-person learning with Tennessee lawmakers.
Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday that he does not want students to go back to virtual learning and the state has no plans of changing the rule passed in April.
“Currently, there’s no plan that allows them to go back to virtual learning so we’ll take that one step at a time, but our hope is that we won’t move in that direction,” Lee said.
As of last week, 449 Covid-19 cases have been reported among SCS students and teachers, according to a new dashboard launched by the district Tuesday.