St. Paul schools weigh replacing in-person classes with 'digital learning days'

St. Paul Public Schools is considering sprinkling in as many as five digital learning days through the remainder of the school year in recognition of the stresses and challenges created by the pandemic.

The shift from in-person instruction to virtual learning would occur on Mondays and-or Fridays and would not be added to existing holidays or breaks, according to a survey now being taken this week by parents and staff members.

Superintendent Joe Gothard signaled a survey was coming when the school board voted in November to add two days to winter break. He said then he was mindful of long stretches of time during which educators and students had no time off from school.

The digital learning days would fall between Feb. 1 and May 31.

Also Tuesday, the St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) called upon the state's second-largest district to develop a more comprehensive approach to the surge of COVID-19 cases connected with the highly contagious omicron variant.

The union wants the district to work with SPFE on a metric to temporarily shift individual schools to remote learning when issues arise around transportation, staff and substitute availability, and COVID-19 cases at the schools.

"The current situation is unsustainable," Leah VanDassor, the union's president, said in a statement. "We don't have enough bus drivers to get children to and from school. Many staff are out sick, quarantining or caring for loved ones, and there aren't enough substitutes to fill in."

SPFE also wants the district to increase availability of PCR tests for students and staff, continue with contact tracing and maintain 10-day isolation periods for individuals who test positive for COVID-19 or require two negative antigen tests to return to school sooner.

Last week, the district put families on alert that they would have to find ways to get their children to and from school when bus routes are canceled. This year, driver shortages have plagued districts across the metro area and the nation.

Release of the survey and the news release announcing the union push for changes come a week before the St. Paul school board's next monthly meeting on Tuesday.