Grafton’s early grades are no longer hybrid — which brings us to that snow day

About 390 kindergarteners and first graders returned to North and South Grafton Elementary Schools on Monday for in-person school, eliminating the hybrid learning forced by COVID-19 at the start of the school year.

Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings said 60 students remain by choice in the Remote Learning Academy, where they will remain until the close of the school year.

Covid trends in the younger grades made the return to the real-life classroom possible, Cummings said. While social distancing and masks are still required, students easily settled in.

Until, of course, Tuesday, when a snowstorm caused Cummings to cancel school. His decision was widely criticized by some parents and community members who felt students should have remote school days instead of a snow day.

“Early on, we prioritized maximizing in-person learning,” Cummings said. “We’re built for that. Other districts are built to be mostly remote.”

Because Grafton has been hybrid since the beginning of the school year, switching to an all-district day of remote learning on the fly is the equivalent to “taking an Indy 500 race car off roading,” Cummings suggested. The students at North and South Grafton Elementary Schools now have different teachers. Students with special needs who attend school full time at Grafton High School may not have access to remote learning. And some students have difficulty getting Internet access at home.

“As a district, we have to make that decision as one,” Cummings said.

Child care can also be an issue. Regular sitters are harder to come by during Covid, parents may not be able to work from home, and some students would be left in potentially unsafe conditions.

“It’s about quality,” Cummings said. “We have to offer a meaningful product and not leave anyone out.”

Grafton has had four snow days in the 2020-2021 school year. The last day of school is now June 23.