nothin NHPS Parents Advocate For Zoom Classes | New Haven Independent

NHPS Parents Advocate For Zoom Classes

Hundreds of parents, teachers and community members tuned into the town hall via Zoom.

The videoconferencing software Zoom is not a cure-all for pandemic-era school.

Interim Superintendent Iline Tracey made that argument Wednesday evening during a virtual town hall with the parent and teacher group New Haven Public School Advocates.

Through moderators during the call, parents asked Tracey and Mayor Justin Elicker about the district’s new grading policy, the use of Career High School and how to ensure long-term, universal WiFi access.

NHPS Advocates set up separate audio channels for Arabic and Spanish speakers, with translations provided by Hajer Ahmad and Maritza Rosa. This was the first time any of the NHPSA volunteers had been on a Zoom call with translations, they said.

The call was partially to give parents answers to their questions about school during the Covid-19 pandemic and partially to give parents input on future school decisions.

To Zoom Or Not To Zoom

Zoom

Teacher and moderator Kirsten Hopes-McFadden asks a question on behalf of an absent community member.

A lively debate emerged within the chat feature of the Zoom call on how to make online school more interactive for New Haven students. Several parents argued that the school district needs to find a way to do live instruction.

What about parents who are plugged in but overwhelmed and need the teachers to come on to connect with students?” asked Cindy J. Cadet, a Bishop Woods School parent.

Parent Maria Harris said after the call that she has a niece and nephew going to a local charter school that holds class on Zoom. The level of teacher-student interaction her own kids have experienced is more inconsistent, she said. She has found her preschooler’s class, which has prerecorded videos and morning meetings, much more interactive than her second grader’s.

Interim Superintendent Iline Tracey.

Tracey said that state guidance on Zoom calls is that they may violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. She explained that students calling from their bedrooms is a minefield for the district and leaves NHPS open to being sued. Her policy is that teachers should not use the software.

Some teachers who may have defied the policy and are using Zoom, that’s on them,” Tracey said.

Teachers can use tools on the district’s preferred software, Google Classroom. Tracey said that Google Meet offers similar functions to Zoom but is more secure. Students are expected to keep their videos off.

People are Zoom bombing by putting pornographic content up and committing hate crimes. I don’t want that to happen to our students,” Tracey said.

Parents continued to ask in the chat for a live instruction system. Some suggested an opt-in form for families that care about live instruction over privacy concerns.

Some listeners responded by saying that live instruction could be unfair for students unable to make the classes. Many families have too few computers for the number of children they have, one special education social worker added.

Parent Rebecca Cramer, who asked how play-based learning will work when kids return to schools.

Mayor Justin Elicker weighed in and encouraged Tracey to continue to consider live instruction options. He said that as a parent, he wishes his daughter had more live instruction and that he can see how difficult this time is for parents with multiple children.

I ultimately defer to Dr. Tracey but there is enough interest by parents that we should continue to explore this. I’m always reluctant to let liability be the reason we don’t do something — although there are legitimate concerns about Zoom bombing,” Elicker said.

Tracey promised to explore live instruction options and said that she would get back to parents on her team’s decision.

Watch the recording of the town hall here.

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