The superintendent of the Rock Island-Milan School District is gave his "State of the Schools" address, during the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year.
As of September 2020, Rock Island-Milan schools are in full remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Reginald Lawrence said they have surveyed parents to see where their comfort levels are in returning to school in some capacity.
Dr. Lawrence said in the latest surveys, 63% of parents said they would be interested in blended learning, meaning some at-school learning and some remote, while 37% wanted to continue with full remote learning.
Dr. Lawrence said remote learning has presented challenges among staff and students, but that some of the technology that's been implemented will continue to be used going forward.
"(Going forward) I don't think there will ever be a classroom teacher who's not using remote learning doing online assignments, using Google Classroom, having students... log in at various times of the day," he said. "This is going to be something that's here permanently and we're going to continue to improve on how we utilize technology."
Despite the help that technology has provided in teaching during the pandemic, Dr. Lawrence said students do miss out on social interactions, which has been a challenge.
"Online learning will never take the place of having a teacher in front of you," he said.
Students are expected to resume blended learning opportunities after the first quarter, but that is dependent on the status of positivity rates of COVID-19 in the area.
