Virtual learning worsened problems

WADESBORO — A full year has passed since students were forced to adapt to virtual classes and, as classrooms start returning to normal capacity, the Anson County School District is seeing the effects of the unfamiliar virtual months through deprivation numbers, absenteeism and the number of students in danger of failing.

Seven of the nine schools in Anson County have over half of their students in deprivation. This deprivation listed, which was provided by the school district, shows the percentage of students who were in poverty last year. Superintendent Howard McLean will be working on the most recent deprivation lists in the upcoming weeks.

Wadesboro Elementary School has the highest percentage with 79.61% of students in deprivation. Morven Elementary follows at 77.09%. The two lowest schools, Anson County Early College and Ansonville Elementary, are at 28.4% and 43.71% deprivation.

“Our demographic is a very vulnerable population historically,” Principal Daniel Burrows of Wadesboro Elementary School said. “I think the pandemic exposed that more … My mentality right now is that my kids aren’t failures, they’re surviving a pandemic.”

Root issues behind the deprivation numbers as to why students are not doing well or attending classes are being discovered from the virtual year. These issues have been around before COVID-19, it just took the pandemic to expose and address it more consciously, according to Burrows.

Teachers and staff in the district are reaching out to students, parents and guardians more often than previous years. Some are even making home visits or dropping off food. By working with families and understanding the students backgrounds, the district will be able to better address the deprivation numbers.

“The teachers are doing a phenomenal job of constantly communicating and trying to reach out to support the students,” Peachland-Polkton Elementary School Principal Dr. Travis Steagall said. “We do have a mandate that all of us our trying to do. At least one or two times a week. We’re going to reach out to a parent to make sure we are supporting them, checking in with them and covering our basis.”

The more constant communication between schools and homes has allowed the district to make contact with students who are constantly missing class. Given the unusualness of the pandemic school year, attendance has been low throughout the district.

About 12.6% of students in the district have missed ten or more consecutive school days this year. This number is for both in-person and virtual students. There is no number to distinguish the number of chronic absenteeism between online and in-person from the reports in the district.

Anson High School has the highest percentage of 10 or more consecutive absences out of the nine schools at 23.84%.

A majority of schools in the district are seeing an intensified number of Black students missing more class than other students. Wadesboro Primary Principal Fred Davis said K-3 African American students make up 495 absences so far this school year. The African American male students have a combined total of 2,323 absences and the females have 1,772.

“We found a majority of (absent students),” Davis said. “The biggest thing is the relationship piece here has gotten better between home and school.”

Along with the high number of chronic absenteeism, the district is seeing a larger number of students in danger of failing.

There is a total of 64 third grade students at Wadesboro Primary. Of those 64, 31 are failing two or more classes, 11 are failing one and 22 are passing all of them, according to Principal Fred Davis.

McLean does not recommend that schools hold back students this year because of the pandemic. He does not have the final decision on whether or not a student should be retained.

“My philosophy is to help close the gap with summer school,” McLean said. “Once we get to some type of normalcy that we increase the volume so to speak. I’m depending on summer school and also next year, with some things we learned this past year, how accelerate learning.”

Each individual principal, along with a committee of teachers, staff and parents, will be in charge of deciding whether or not a student may need to be held back.

“We’re going to try to encourage as many as we can to go to summer school as possible and try to delay that kind of decision,” Steagall said. “You have to be really particular about a type of student you can retain.”

For the few weeks students have returned in-person this school year, the principals unanimously agree students are eager and ready to learn. Students are smiling and enjoying the social interaction, event at a distance. Discipline has been far less this school year compared to years past. At Anson Middle School, there have been zero write ups for discipline in the first three weeks back in-person.

Looking forward to a less stressful and unusual year, McLean plans on keeping this constant communication in play between schools and homes to build a stronger relationship and keep students in the classroom.