Owasso Superintendent Explains Decision To Shift High School Students To Distance Learning

Owasso Public Schools students in 9th-12th grades will move from in-person learning to distance learning for the remainder of the semester.

Superintendent Dr. Amy Fichtner said the district had every intention of staying in person, but quarantines to students and staff led to frequent disruptions. Fichtner said students will get more continuity in education by pivoting back to distance learning.

The district explained the quarantine guidelines they follow are set by the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Fichtner said that the district is seeing a decrease in substitutes to fill in for absent teachers.

Fichtner is confident high school students will adjust to distance learning because there is more academic experience for those students compared to students at an elementary school. She said the online learning platform high school students will take part in is similar to formats at post-secondary schools.

According to district officials, teachers will still report to the high school while leading online classes. Dr. Fichtner said they will be available through other resources like Google classroom, e-mail and phone to help students.

Dr. Fichtner said school administration from across the district met for hours to discuss the challenges they are facing before making the decision to move high schoolers out of the building.

“If that disruption is occurring, which is what we saw at the high school, then we go the other direction,” said Dr. Fichtner. “It’s a multi-variable process and [I am] very grateful for the input of everyone who is actually in the school building letting us know what’s going on there.”

Dr. Fichtner told News On 6 that the plan is to keep all other students in school buildings for the rest of the semester. She also acknowledged that things could change quickly.

According to the district, the number of people in isolation or quarantine does not necessarily mean contact was made on an Owasso campus.

The district keeps a running total of their COVID-19 status on the Owasso Public Schools website.