GOWANDA — David Barnes, Gowanda school board member, is pushing to bring more Gowanda Central School students back into school buildings for classes rather than learn remotely.

During a recent Board of Education meeting, members discussed and deliberated over coming up with solutions to get kids back in school. Barnes asked multiple people questions recently to try to understand why the school is struggling to bring kids back and why a lot of kids are failing due to the remote system.

“The kid is crying because the parents are not able to get accommodations for the kid and she can’t read well enough to do it on her own… at what point do we go about getting help for those kids?” Barnes asked Janine Jalal, district special education director. “She’s just crying because she can’t get the help she needs and when the parents call the school they tell them that they can’t help because she doesn’t have an IEP, just a 504. Is there anything in the works to fix that?”

Jalal reported the middle and high schools have created a program on Wednesdays to welcome students with 504 — a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a disability receives accommodations that will ensure their academic success — into the school if they need extra help.

Ronald Cook, board member, explained further the administration in the school and the whole staff and teacher team is trying their best and hardest to get kids back in school safely while also following New York state guidelines. “It’s a work in progress for this operational rhythm. I think they’re doing an outstanding job on coordinating and making sure that everybody has maximized their space and educational ability.”

Barnes commented the board should not be praising these individuals for their hard work when kids are still not able to come back into the school and a lot are struggling with the remote model and failing.

“Our kids are failing, we’re not getting the education, and we keep glossing over that everybody is doing a great job, but at the end of the day lest we forget that we are here to educate students and we’re not doing it. Don’t sugarcoat it,” he said. “We’ve got to have some answers to get these kids back in school. Up to 70% of kids are failing in the middle school. … How do we go about getting this done? We have no COVID kids in our district and we haven’t had any, but we’re still letting these kids fail.”

Cook rebutted by explaining that the staff is trying their hardest and doing the best they can and the board has to stop pointing fingers and blaming certain individuals.

“We have to get away from that. Every single facility is not cookie cutter. Our library is not the same size as the next and each classroom is a different size,” Cook said. “Each district has their limitations and they’ve developed each of their plans to accommodate the max amount of students and personnel possible. We want everybody back, but we can only operate within the limits of our capability.”

Dr. Sandra Cimbricz, district curriculum coordinator, also chimed in to explain that though things are not perfect right now, the whole school is trying so hard to make things work, along with every other school in the state. Barnes asked Cimbricz why the teachers are only teaching about 75% of the curriculum and how this will work in future years.

She explained that right now, a lot depends on the kids doing work outside of school.

“This year is going to be different because it is different,” she said. “You’re asking that question as if I am going to have an answer. I am part of a regional network where we talk with 32 districts. All kids are struggling right now. Next year, we do not look at it as if they are all behind, we readjust and bring them up to the level they need to be to move forward. I don’t know any district who is on par, keeping 100%, and doing everything that would typically be done in a school year.”

Board member Dana Szalay-Delaney suggested other procedures to keep remote students on track, like bringing Zoom calls back and having them live during the teaching of the in-person students. Cimbricz explained that while it is a possibility, it would be very hard for the teacher to manage not only the students in the classroom, but also those in the Zoom call, monitoring the chat box and looking to see if anybody has questions.

“I appreciate the board listening to the things we are wrestling with. It’s not just an easy problem to solve and the solutions we come up with always have a consequence that maybe we didn’t predict,” Cimbricz said. “It’s frustrating for all of us, the parents are very frustrated too. I think that’s actually where we’re united. We’re really wanting to do what is best for the kids.”