COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Students of Columbia Public Schools will still have to work to do on snow days after the school district announced its implementation of Alternate Methods of Instruction.
According to a presentation on AMI for a Board of Education meeting Thursday, the district is adding remote learning days following the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's incentive program for Senate Bill 727 that classifies a "school term" as 169 school days. The district announced changes to its calendar last month.
Through the program, any school district that consistently fulfills 169 school days this year will receive 1% of that fiscal year's budget. This incentive will increase to 2% of the budget in the 2026-27 school year and beyond.
If CPS completes the 2024-2025 school year with at least 169 days of instruction, the district expects to receive a bonus of at least $655,000 after subtracting the initial $95,000 operational fees. This bonus will only be applied to funding educators, this can be include hiring more instructors or giving raises.
"It is strictly for teacher pay, how that's allocated will probably be more discussed when we get more towards our budgeting season, which happens in the spring," Columbia Board of Education member April Ferrao said.
AMI days will help supplement any school days lost to inclement weather and allow districts a larger window of eligibility for the bonus. CPS will have 36 eligible AMI hours, which is around five full school days. If exceeded, schools may need to extend its semester.
Remote instruction will be different from pandemic instruction, according to the presentation. Instead of attending classes for multiple hours on Zoom, students will be given a list of review assignments they are required to complete. If completed and turned in, students will be counted for attendance.
"I envision for how this works, it's going to be far less demanding than navigating what online school looked like in COVID," Ferrao said. "It's going to be reinforcing or working with something that the child's already familiar with."
West Middle School Band Director Julie Swope believes the change will benefit her students.
"Our curriculum will be focusing on music for full ensemble contest, as well as solos and small ensemble presentations," Swope wrote in a Wednesday email to ABC 17 News. "Our students often spend time outside of the classroom to reinforce and improve upon their technique, AMI days will allow our students to receive credit for the work they are doing at home on “inclement weather” days."
Ferrao added that all assignments will be able to be completed throughout the day and teachers will be available for questions for a few hours during the beginning of the school day. Assignments will also be able to be completed without internet.
"It's not intended to be anything that's overly burdensome and likewise, if a family's working and their kid has to go off to grandma's for the day, it should be something that they could do it easily that evening," Ferrao said.
Paul Prevo, the owner of Tiger Tots Preschools, is prepared for change. According to Prevo, students enrolled in before or after-school Tiger Tots programs get priority, their facilities are also equipped with upgraded Wi-Fi routers.
"We are prepared for all of our enrolled students to be able to come in, and utilize our devices as needed," Prevo said. "Obviously, online learning is not the best option, hopefully, we won't have too many of those snow days but we're prepared to make sure that all of our students have access to get an education."
According to Moberly Assistant Superintendent Parisa Stoddard, Moberly schools have been using AMI days since 2020 and schools have not seen any issues with students turning in work.
Ferrao adds that the Board of Education expects there to be fewer AMI days used next school year since the school's schedule will be accommodated to the updated school term requirement of 169 days.