Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Given the perils of remote and hybrid learning over the past year, at least one legislature in the south is looking to allow high schoolers an additional year in school because of the COVID pandemic.
A bill is in Kentucky's legislature calling for students to take an extra year of studies if they so desire because of the hybrid learning environment as a result of the pandemic.
There is mixed reaction to the concept among some top educators in Western New York who have been proactively navigating education throughout the pandemic.
Niagara Falls Schools Superintendent Mark Laurrie says he likes the idea, but making it a law isn't necessary.
"I don't think you need to pass a bill to do that. I think if there's a parent or a student who thinks they need more time, we should be able to accommodate them without a law in place," says Laurrie. "I appreciate what they're trying to do, but I think you can do this with common sense, and there are ways to work around this locally."
Laurrie says high school is not the place to consider an extra year. "The right place is in the lower grades, where you really need to build the foundation," explains Laurrie. He says he would accommodate such a request in the district on a case-by-case basis. "We have to determine even in a a pandemic, if they've made some growth. If so, we want to accelerate that growth over the next couple of years," adds Laurrie. Laurrie says the pandemic learning loss will not be made up in one year in the primary and intermediate level.
At Hamburg Central Schools, Superintendent Michael Cornell disagrees.
"There's decades of research that frowns upon holding students back in grades K-8," says Cornell. "I think we've done a really good job over many years of reflecting on best practices, and making good decisions on a child by child basis, talking with the parents about what's best for the child."
Cornell says he feels confident children have been taught according to the standards, even in a hybrid level. "It's important to note that school districts have processes where fifth grade teachers talk with sixth grade teachers and we do have that vertical alignment," explains Cornell. He says will the pandemic force some adjustments, but does not feel it will be necessary to hold students back.
Most students have been learning in a hybrid mode for a year.
