LPS announces number of remote learning requests

Lincoln Public School officials announced Monday the unverified number of remote learning requests they received by the July 31 deadline. They received 6,771 requests to begin the school year remotely, or approximately 16.8 percent of those enrolled in LPS as of July 24. Now schools must go through and verify the requests and match them to currently enrolled students.

“We remain committed to providing an excellent education to all LPS students and we must ensure that all students have access to instruction even in the midst of a pandemic,” said Matt Larson, associate superintendent of Instruction. “As we developed this plan, one of our top priorities along with the safety of staff and students is giving families the ability to choose an option that best serves their child’s needs.”

In elementary, Belmont Elementary has the largest number of requests with 161, but the largest percentage of students requesting remote learning is McPhee Elementary with 29.5 percent of its enrollment.

Irving Middle School has the largest number of requests and the largest percentage in middle school with 211, or 23.9 percent of its enrollment. Lincoln High leads the high schools with 442 requests, or 18.5 percent of their enrollment.

Parents of any K-12 LPS student may voluntarily elect for their child to participate in remote learning during the 2020-2021 school year if LPS is conducting classes under yellow or orange on the risk dial. If the risk dial is in green, only students with an individualized plan will be allowed to participate in remote learning. After the July 31 deadline, families may contact their child’s school at any time to change their preference.

Attending school remotely means:

• During scheduled class times the student will be required to sign on to each teacher’s Zoom meeting using their LPS-issued Chromebook.
• Attendance will be taken by the teacher as if the student were physically present.
• Joining a class via Zoom requires an internet connection with a minimum dedicated bandwidth of 1.5Mbps up/1.5Mbps down per learner. If families do not have internet connectivity, they may contact their school office to inquire about the availability of cellular hotspots configured to provide access only to LPS Chromebooks.
• It is important to note students may not be on Zoom the entire class time (based on teacher instruction). Students will be required to complete work independently outside of scheduled class (Zoom-in) sessions.
• While LPS works to make remote learning a high-quality experience, there are some classes, courses and services that cannot be offered through remote learning. 
• Student engagement during remote learning is the responsibility of the student and parent.
• While attending remote learning, families must continue to notify the office of any absences (illness, activity preventing attendance, etc.) for their child.
• Students participating in remote learning will still need to follow behavior expectations listed in the Lincoln Public Schools Rights and Responsibilities of Student section of the Important Information Book as if they were attending school physically.