Legislation, COVID part of trigger for curriculum addition

Poplar Bluff has purchased an online learning program for district students after a recent change in state legislation.

Patty Robertson, assistant superintendent of curriculum, said students had virtual options before, but they weren’t taught through the R-I district. This new curriculum will be.

“I did resist,” Robertson said. “When (Dr. Scott Dill, superintendent) first started talking to me, it was just We’re not doing this’ because I really want kids to be in school. I really think they need face-to-face instruction, and I really think they need to be around other kids. I was just going ‘This isn’t how things are going to be in the fall.’”

After seeing comments on Facebook and receiving calls asking about at-home curriculum, Robertson said she warmed up to the idea as an option for those who need it.

Last year, legislation passed allowing parents to pick virtual courses, which could be done at home. The local school district would pay the tuition, Robertson said.

“We had a number of students take part in that, and we paid out to these vendors,” she explained. “Then, we hit COVID and went through that mess for a quarter and did our best to deliver instruction. When that kind of came to an end, Dr. Dill approached me and said, ‘We need to find an in-house virtual solution for our parents who are uncomfortable coming to school in fall.’ That was a monumental task.”

Robertson said she had concerns about getting teachers trained on a new program over the summer. They originally discussed developing curriculum, but realized that would be too much at this point.

Instead, Robertson started looking for a vendor that offered the curriculum, but would be taught by R-I teachers and be R-I courses.

Robertson said she looked into four different products that would allow the district to just purchase the curriculum, each with pros and cons. When she put it out for bid, two responded.

As part of the vetting process, she put together a committee of administration and volunteer teachers to review the products. The committee went through a demo period with the program, looking through courses and testing them out. They also looked specifically at courses with labs.

The school board approved the purchase of Accelerate Education, which teachers can customize. It comes at the recommendation of the National School Superintendents Association, which called the curriculum rigorous, Dill said.