Gov. Jared Polis may have dashed the hopes of homebound teachers, parents and students across Colorado on Monday, reiterating that in-class education is not likely to resume this academic year due to the state’s ongoing social-distancing measures.
“It is very likely that you won’t be able to resume normal classroom activities this school year,” Polis said during a news conference updating the public on efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak. “The school year hasn’t been called off yet statewide; we’re always hopeful. But districts have been preparing for that. That’s the likelihood.”
About two weeks ago, Polis ordered all public and private schools statewide to close their doors until at least April 17 in a bid to stop the spread of the highly contagious respiratory illness COVID-19.
But even before he issued that order, as schools across Colorado opted on their own to shut down in-person learning, Polis said it was “increasingly unlikely” students would return to the classroom before summer break.
Denver Public Schools officials said Monday they are “working closely with state and local officials and health experts” on the question of whether classroom education will resume before the end of the academic year.
In the meantime, schools around Colorado have abruptly pivoted to remote learning to keep students engaged. The drastic change hasn’t always rolled out smoothly.
On Monday, as the Boulder Valley School District launched its first day of remote learning, the widely-used online education management system Schoology crashed for some users, including those within the Boulder district.
On Twitter, Schoology officials said some users experienced temporary performance issues due to increased usage.
Carolyn Nohe, spokeswoman for Boulder Valley , said the platform was back up in about an hour and that learning wasn’t impacted Monday.
Denver Public Schools has yet to begin its remote learning journey; that begins April 7.
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