Highlands administrators ask parents for patience with online elementary program

Highlands administrators acknowledged at a meeting Monday that they are having problems with the district’s online elementary curriculum, but did not directly address a mother’s concern that its content is religious.

Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said she has gotten a handful of emails about the Accelerate Education program the district is using for its virtual academy, which the district offered for parents who did not want to send their children back to school buildings.

Mawhinney said there are “kinks” that need to be worked out.

“We can’t fix everything at once,” she said.

Aasta Deth had claimed she found content she considered to be religious or faith-based in parts of her five-year-old daughter’s kindergarten program and her eight-year-old son’s third-grade social studies course. The district and a representative of Edgenuity, which is partnered with Accelerate to provide the program, denied the content is religious.

Parents at Monday’s meeting raised other issues.

Parent Kelly Powell said questions on quizzes are not being covered in lessons, and that students are being given too much work. She said her fourth-grader is having to work seven hours a day during the week, with a parent or grandparent present the entire time.

“The pace is too fast,” she said. “There is no reiteration of anything learned the previous day.”

Melissa Josefoski echoed Kelly’s frustration and said she’s having to come home to help get her fourth-grader caught up with things they didn’t understand. She called the quizzes “crazy” and “overwhelming,” to the point a parent would have trouble understanding.

Krystle Kilgore said she was up until 3 a.m. Monday making a to-do list for both of her children, in fourth and fifth grade.

“The day still ended with me wanting to bang my head off the table,” she said.

School board President Bobbie Neese said officials are hearing parents’ concerns and asked them to be patient as everyone is going through something new and learning.

“We’re getting better by the day,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent Cathleen Cubelic said Highlands chose Accelerate Education for its virtual instruction because it was aligned with the district’s elementary program and state standards. About 400 of the roughly 1,100 students in kindergarten through sixth grade are enrolled in it, she said.

“It’s very important those kids have a similar learning experience,” Cubelic said.

Cubelic said Accelerate does not have all the coursework that students in schools receive, so the district has had to do some “creative planning” to provide access to elementary special-area classes and middle school electives.

“We’ve been responding to some of the concerns we’ve been hearing,” she said.

Cubelic said it’s become clear not all families were clear on what a full-virtual platform meant. Powell, who was on the district’s reopening task force, said she knew what she signed up for and felt she made an informed decision.

“They cannot learn off of this program. An adult has to be present and teaching them,” she said. “I didn’t know I’d be on my own doing this.

“We need to be heard,” Powell said.

Mawhinney encouraged parents to contact her or Cubelic directly if they feel their needs aren’t met by teachers or building principals.

Mawhinney said there are few elementary students who can work independently as the program requires and that they will need support, which she recognized is more difficult for families with more than one child.

“We recognize that and we’re here to support you. We do ask for patience,” she said. “Our teachers have done an amazing job. They had a lot on their plate. They had to get used to the technology. It was a learning curve for them. They are putting hours into doing the best for your children.”

Mawhinney said Highlands had only two months to put the program together with no guide on how to do it, and that they were faced with adjusting a cyber program to fit the needs of parents who chose it for safety reasons because they did not feel comfortable sending their children back to schools.

“Nothing is perfect and we’re not claiming that it is perfect,” she said.