The Indianola School District is working on bringing students back for a full day of learning at the beginning of the second semester in January, which would then alter the virtual learners schedule to be more synchronous with the on-site students. Superintendent Art Sathoff tells KNIA News the process involves getting teachers more assistance in their classrooms to help keep virtual learners up to date.

“If we are going to have them there all day we have to find a way to accomplish some of the contacts, phone calls, and administrative things that go along with remote learning. Some of it is staffing with aids in the classes, some of it is technology. We are doing a trial run on a couple of different voice amplification things, so if we are going to zoom kids in the classroom right now the teachers will have to stay pretty close to their laptop or microphone. So we are just working on a couple of things right now for sound quality, because right now it seems like the best way to serve remote learners is to give them synchronous instruction with the rest of the class.”

If the COVID-19 pandemic allows, the system would go into place for year-round students on January 6th and traditional calendar students on January 20th.