Minnesota schools, parents struggle to adjust to school closure

Just as parents scramble to find ways to adjust their lives during the school closures, St. Paul and Minneapolis educators have their own challenge: finding ways to teach nearly 70,000 students from a distance.

Thanks to the risks of the novel coronavirus, schools are being forced to create online and distance learning structures on the fly. In St. Paul, where children were told to stay home Monday and Tuesday, staff members met in buildings across the district to assess what they will need to keep 36,000 students on track despite the disruption of COVID-19.

"We have to ensure our staff have the equipment they need to do this," St. Paul Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard said Monday, adding that officials are assessing everything from iPads to passwords — everything they will need for kids and teachers to work from home for at least the next two weeks. Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday announced that Minnesota students would be out of school at least through March 27. Spring Break in St. Paul was scheduled to begin March 30.

"We don't have to be perfect right from the start," Gothard said. "We're going to have a little time to figure out what this is going to be."

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said in an interview Monday that he's been in daily communication with Gothard, and a city liaison has been assigned to stay in close communication with school district leaders. Though recreation centers and libraries are closed under a state of local emergency the mayor declared Sunday, he said they could still be used to provide food and other services to families.

"That is something that's very much on the table as we work with our schools to figure out how we together meet the needs of our families," he said.

In Minneapolis, students can pick up meals from school buses in school parking lots at locations across the city. Meals are available each weekday, starting Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Starting on Wednesday, school buses will be delivering meals at school bus stops in St. Paul.

Minneapolis Public Schools remained open on Monday, but excused absences for students who stayed home.

The decision to hold school on Monday was made to give parents time to plan for child care and give staff the chance to access any equipment they'll need to work from home, the district said. Many schools also directed parents to make arrangements to pick up their students' personal items.

Teachers spent Monday helping students make the transition. Educational enrichment activities will be made available at the district's 20 food distribution sites and staff members will work on long-term lesson plans in case students are kept out of class after March 27. Minneapolis' Spring Break starts March 30.

Nafeesah Muhammad, who teaches English through a project-based learning program at Patrick Henry High School, said only a handful of her students showed up Monday. "That's difficult because we were prepared to share info and resources with them about what to expect for the rest of the quarter," she said.

Her class has already been using technology that will work for distance learning, but she worries about students who may not have a home computer with internet. She said she was directed to have students complete missing assignments while she creates a curriculum for the potential shift to distance learning.

"I don't think we are prepared right now to gauge who has access to what and who knows how to use what technologies," Muhammad said. "That's not something to wait until a disaster to learn."

Joel Matuzak, who teaches instrumental music at St. Paul Highland Park High School, sent an e-mail to his students Monday, telling them he will miss them, giving them instructions on how to keep moving their music learning forward and encouraging them to take home a school instrument if needed. "My goal is for you to continue to explore music and make it part of your daily life. We all need something to feed our soul," he wrote. He has a master's degree in educational technology and is comfortable using it to teach. But, he said, something crucial is sacrificed in teaching music online: "You lose the interaction. … Music is about community and really working together."

Parents seemed resigned to the unknown amid the pandemic, but planned to keep their children learning.

Maggie George, who has a daughter in eighth grade at Lake Nokomis Community School, decided not to send her to school on Monday to better protect her family from possible exposure.

"We feel we are a pretty privileged family at this point because we can all stay home," George said. Both she and her partner can work remotely.

Lake Nokomis students were allowed to take a few books home from the library, but George hasn't heard any updates on the plans for distance learning.

"My guess is this is not just a few weeks of hiatus," George said, adding that she has plans to find other online classes for her daughter to supplement her learning. "Next year is high school and we want to make sure she's not going to be behind the eight ball."

Clayton Howatt, whose daughters attend Galtier Elementary in St. Paul, said he's not worried about whether his children will continue learning. He feels good about the educational programming the district offers online. And Howatt, who is a contractor, and his wife, who runs a day care, have the flexibility to stay home, if need be.

"But our school is 75% free and reduced-price lunch," he said. "And I am concerned about all our other families. Will they be able to get off work?"

The school closure comes fresh off a three-day St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) strike that shuttered St. Paul's schools and sent parents scrambling to find child care.

During the strike, Jane Sommerville was able to take some time off work, and her mother stepped in to help take care of her 9-year-old and 7-year-old. But with the rising threat of COVID-19, Sommerville said she doesn't want to ask for grandparent help, out of concern that they could contract the virus.

For now, she's created a makeshift home-school schedule and is trying to balance working from home.

"I think none of us could have really adequately prepared for the schools closing down again, and parents being forced into a role as home-schooling parents," Sommerville said. Heather Kamia is also working from home and planning activities for her children, ages 8 and 5. She's setting up video phone calls with family members in other states who can serve as guest teachers — grandparents who are retired educators will help with science, math and language arts, and an uncle will give a cooking lesson.

Kamia is also figuring out special education for her 5-year-old, who has Down syndrome. She and other parents in the St. Paul School District whose children have special needs say they're turning to each other for guidance and support.

Even teachers are turning online for support — Muhammad joined a group for educators and parents called "Teaching During COVID-19." It has more than 35,000 members.

At St. Agnes School in St. Paul, parent Lindsay Ferris Martin said students were heading home Monday afternoon with grocery bags filled with extra books and other learning materials. She and her husband plan to augment that with lessons they can find online.

"Parents are pretty fortunate that we have a lot at our fingertips," Ferris Martin said.

Staff Writer Emma Nelson contributed to this report.