Correction! To our school board story

This week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper included a large school board story based on the Monday meeting held this week at the high school library. It included information on the 2020-2021 school year that was very wrong...it was somewhat an oversight, but what was stated was very factually incorrect.

In describing the 2020-2021 school year, the article said that grades preK-3 were in school (in person) for all 39 weeks of the year. That is correct.

However, the story "went off the rails" from there. I don't know what I was thinking, but in focusing on the elementary grades, it then went on to say that grades 4-6 were in school (in person) for 36 of 39 weeks. That is correct...but it said that from December 1 to December 22, that grades 4-6 were "off"...as in, off of school...no school. That's wildly inaccurate. They were very much "at school" but through distance learning. I should know, as one of our children were very much 'at school' with distance learning in that time. It seems like years ago, but it's just a half a year ago. So much has happened since that time.

I feel terrible about it because I know first hand how much work and effort our teachers put into distance learning. Our students were very much not "off" during that time. Not in the least bit.

Accurate: (corrected again***!) grades 4-12 at B-B-E were using the a hybrid model of e-learning with a small mix of students still utilizing in-person learning. The shift to this model was in part due to a rise in COVID-19 cases on the local front and the very real fear of not having adequate staff who are not in quarantine to operate the full, in-person PreK-12 model. This lasted from December 1 to December 22. It was a challenging period of time, but a challenge that B-B-E rose up for. Students who needed special education services or to do work such as in a science lab could do that in December. It was a "relief valve" of sorts to the education system at B-B-E to weather the storm that Minnesota was experiencing at the time.

Other than that three-week period, B-B-E kids in grades 4-12 were in school (in person) the entire time for 36 of the 39 weeks of the school year.

To have all of our students (with the exception of a few kids who used full distance learning for 2020-2021)...in person and in class for grades PreK-12 for 36 of 39 weeks is absolutely tremendous. It is marvelous. I am so proud of B-B-E school for pulling that off! The staff and students deserve a huge, huge round of applause.

I don't know how I can get something so near and dear to me so incorrect in a news article. It was the result of haste, working too fast and working in a somewhat sloppy manner. The turnaround for a school board story in 24 hours is tough, but I usually pull it off without issues. If I can't confidently write about it, then I just hold it for another week. Lesson: haste makes waste! A lesson for everyone: if you hurry through your work, you have a much greater chance of making mistakes.

Now that I've got your attention...click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website and read more about the upcoming Bonanza Valley Days 2021 celebration in Brooten! It's coming! July 8, 9, 10 and 11. (short link) https://bit.ly/3h6nAIS. Spread the word and get everyone you know to town that weekend!