On March 8th, his Majesty, C. Sununu, Peace be Upon Him, Issued Emergency Order 85. It included a requirement that all NH schools provide at least two days of in-person learning if requested by a parent or student. Exeter Public Schools (SAU16) may have ignored the order.
I’ve received several emails about this district in recent days. The revelation over Superintendent Ryan’s diversity of opinion problem. CMS Principal Patty Wons self-contradicting pablum. And now we have this—administrators refusing in-person learning contrary to the dictates of Emergency Order 85 (emphasis, mine).
New Hampshire schools retain the flexibility to provide traditional in-person instruction or hybrid instruction that encompasses aspects of both in-person and distance learning in order to respond to COVID-19 threats in their individual communities. New Hampshire schools shall retain the option to offer full time distance learning for any student who elects such an option. However, all New Hampshire schools must provide in-person instruction for at least two days per week for any student who wishes to elect such an option, unless a school elects to transition to full-time distance learning for all students or a segment of students pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 4 of this Order.
Any moratorium on in-person leating had not so much lifted as interrupted. The Governor made it clear that absent a few alternatives, NH Schools needed to allow, at a minimum, two days of in-school in-person learning for students (or their parents) who requested it.
My sources suggest that when confronted with the particulars of EO 85, the Administrators did not know about the requirement. There was a gap in the information food chain. Either the Superintendent or the school board or both might have neglected to communicate the rule (unless the administrators were playing dumb or so instructed).
That does not absolve them of responsibility. Being up to date and ready to toe the line on fearmongering means you should be at “grade level” when it comes to changes in the political pathology.
The administration should be aware not just about changes but also push for guidance from their School Board and Superintendent David Ryan.
That does not appear to be the case.
Following the March 8th order, requests for in-person learning were politely rejected. It is not clear if this happened at every school in SAU 16, so parents if you have had a similar experience, please email me with your story.
However extensive, there is clearly a gap between the State passing along mandates that school boards and administration are ready to implement and those they are not.
While we continue to insist that none of this passes constitutional muster (the legislature cannot turn the Governor into a king), schools’ willingness to jump one way for his majesty when it suits them and not the other when it does not is unacceptable.
You work for these parents and their children, not the other way around.
I know, it was just an oversight. Everyone was busy working out how to shame all the white kids into believing they are racists and lost rack of the which hoops through which they were expected to jump.
