Are schools ready?

Last spring was a trying time for VCSU. Storms held people captive in their dorms, apartments, and houses. The Sheyenne River began rising with the quick melt of the snow, students, faculty, staff, and administration put many hours helping sandbag.

Then,while the students were away for Easter break, the dikes came in, the dikes began to fail, and the decision for the students to say home and classes to all go up online came about.

It was quite the semester! Some courses had great difficulty going online, such as band and chemistry lab. Some teachers were not as "in-tuned" to using Blackboard, so they completed their classes via e-mail. But most "rose to the occassion." After the initial shock of "WHAT? HOW CAN WE POSSIBLE DO THAT???" set in, faculty members stepped forward and did what had to be done to complete the semester.

Our efforts were noticed nationally. In fact, our efforts have been studied as a possiblity of an alternative for schools with large outbreaks of the H1N1 virus.

Is this a viable alternative? Should schools be planning ahead? What will schools do if the virus manifests itself as an epidemic?

Unfortunately, only 1/2 of schools actually plan for disasters. That's unacceptable. While I am not suggesting we run crying that the sky is falling, we know that the H1N1 virus is real and we know that it can take 5-10 days to recover. So why would schools sit back and wait for it to happen?

We were told at a forum yesterday that it may be until November until students can get a vaccine for this strain. Yet it is here in North Dakota. Two sets of youth groups who went to a national Lutheran youth gathering in New Orleans came back with the H1N1 virus. Take a bunch of students and place them in a contained place. It doesn't matter how much you try to encourage them to use hand sanitizer, wash their hands, stay home if sick... The virus can still do its damage.

So is putting courses online during an epidemic the direction to go? When is the decision made? When 5% of the student body is sick?10%? 15%? Do we continue with courses for those who are well and create second courses that reach those who are sick? For example, if ten students are out with the Swine Flu for Public Speaking, do we continue the f2f course for the fifteen that are not sick?

And what about other schools? Some news reports state that the high schools and elementary schools that closed last spring due to an outbreak should not have closed. Are teachers in these education systems expected to prepare make-up assignments for students?

Similar to what VCSU went through, computers may provide the answer. Various programs allow parents to see what homework is expected for the students. But are their places to submit completed homework online? Are teachers able to capture their day's activities and place it online in video form for the students who are ill? AND, do all students have computer access at home to get their assignments?

These are questions schools are and should be wrestling with.

Meanwhile, H1N1 or o H1N1, VCSU is prepared...