Arkansas' public school 12th graders -- caught up in a pandemic that has closed their campuses and restricted social gatherings -- spent spring break wondering if any part of their capstone year can be salvaged.
In jeopardy not only are the conclusion of the traditional academic year and end-of-year testing for college credit, but also whole athletic seasons and tournament thrillers, quiz bowl matches, science fairs, concerts, award assemblies, banquets, proms and graduations.
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"It's a year of lasts that we didn't know we wouldn't have," said Addie Hegde, a senior at Fayetteville High who plans to attend Arizona State University's School of Sustainability in the fall.
But Hegde and other 17- and 18-year-olds interviewed last week said that as much as they would like to have a traditional senior year, they understand the decision for the school building closures through at least April 17.
"It's irresponsible and selfish not to take into account that people are at risk," Hegde said about the threat of the contagious coronavirus that has sickened tens of thousands in the United States. In Arkansas, dozens of cases are being diagnosed daily.
The Little Rock School District has already canceled proms and banquets with April dates although there is no decision on graduations yet.
Josie Zakrzewski, a senior at North Little Rock High who plans to study biology and chemistry at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in preparation for medical school, said she and her classmates are waiting final decisions about her school's prom and graduation.
"I'm kind of assuming that it's not going to happen at this point," Zakrzewski said. "I'm not as upset about prom because it really is just a dance. Graduation is more upsetting because we have worked all this time for it.
"In the end though," she added, "I do care more about safe practices -- social distancing -- so nothing gets worse."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on March 13 directed that schools in four Central Arkansas counties be closed to on-site instruction, and he followed that with a directive that all other public schools in the state be closed to in-person instruction effective March 17 -- as part of a multipronged effort to curb the spread of the virus.
Arkansas public schools that serve some 479,000 students are set to be closed for at least five weeks -- including this just-ended spring break vacation week. Students and teachers, however, are expected to do schoolwork at home using paper packets of lessons and/or online and televised lessons to avoid having to make up the missed days at a later time.
The impact of the closed schools and the call for "social distancing" is especially great on the Class of 2020, the members of which were born just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and whose school years included defense training in the event of armed attackers on their campuses.
The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education has offered guidance to superintendents and principals about the senior class, saying in part that the students can be exempted from having to pass the U.S. citizenship civics exam and from taking courses in digital learning, CPR and personal finance that they would otherwise have to complete to graduate.
Initial guidelines from the state said "Seniors who are on track to graduate and in good standing as of the third nine weeks reporting period will be considered 'as meeting the graduation requirements' for the state of Arkansas. "
Education division officials elaborated later last week to say that the intent of the earlier directive was to relieve questions about whether seniors would be required to participate in extended make-up days or summer school.
"It is not the [division's] position that seniors are automatically finished, since there are other considerations, such as concurrent credit courses, career technical industry certifications" and other work to be completed, the guidelines say.
"Whether a senior is on track to graduate and in good standing as of the third nine weeks is a local school decision that will be made by school administration," the updated state guidelines also said.
"School districts may still implement local policies for honor graduates and class rank, and should make local decisions regarding end-of-year engagement for current high school seniors regarding graduation," Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key and his staff said in the memorandum in which he also urged school districts to help the seniors with "next steps" such as college and scholarship applications.
Seniors who are not on track for graduation as of the end of the third nine-week grading period must be given the opportunity for credit recovery, Key's memorandum directed further.
And students enrolled in courses for weighted or extra credit, such as Advanced Placement, should still receive that weighted or extra credit -- regardless of the ability of a student to take Advanced Placement exams or other tests, the division has directed.
Superintendents and high school principals have published messages to their students during the vacation break saying that they will, in the coming days and weeks, be reviewing transcripts and conferring with students to determine graduation statuses.
"We want to be accurate and responsive to this group of students so please be patient as we gather this information and then make plans to provide additional support for these students," Little Rock Superintendent Mike Poore wrote to students and parents.
Hegde and Zakrzewski, along with Ethan Gray, a senior at Jacksonville High, and Caleb McGill, a senior at Maumelle Charter High in the Academics Plus system, have been doing schoolwork since their traditional school days came to an abrupt halt.
Gray plans to major in business at Pulaski Tech and UA. He is taking concurrent credit courses -- Composition II, History of Civilization II and College Trigonometry -- for both high school and college credit through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and he expects those online courses to continue.
McGill, Zakrzewski and Hegde are each enrolled in Advanced Placement courses, which has presented its own set of questions in an already tumultuous year.
The Advanced Placement program enables students to earn college hours if students earn qualifying scores on end-of- year Advanced Placement tests that are produced by the national College Board organization. That testing schedule, however, has been disrupted by the closure of schools nationwide. In response, College Board officials have said the organization is investing in the development of a new at-home testing program.
"Traditional face-to-face exam administrations will not take place," according to the College Board website. "Students will take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home."
Test-takers will be able to use any device, and even a photo of handwritten work will be an option. The tests will be on material covered only through early March. And the testing system is being designed to prevent and detect cheating, using tools such as plagiarism checks, according to the College Board. There will be two test dates for each subject area, one fairly soon for those who want to test while the material is fresh and a later test for those who want to take practice tests and otherwise do additional preparation.
A survey of some 18,000 Advanced Placement students showed that 91% wanted to go through with testing this spring, the College Board officials said.
The Arkansas high school seniors had mixed feelings about the at-home Advanced Placement tests, saying such tests will work better for some subjects than for others. They wondered how work on math problems would be shown and whether cheating would occur, which would devalue their own work and resulting scores.
For Gray and McGill, the shortened school year means an unexpected end to what would have been the pinnacle of their participation in team sports.
"I understand why the schools are closing because a lot of kids are there," said Gray, a third baseman on Jacksonville High's baseball team, which played five games so far this year. "I don't know about the baseball games being canceled. We don't have that many people there but, if it's necessary, then we have to do it.
"I do wish we could play," he added.
McGill plays soccer for Maumelle Charter High on a team that he said was having some success. It's a sport that is not only fun but helps keep him in shape for his appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy and a career as an Air Force pilot.
"I didn't think it was going to happen this quickly when they talked about school closings," McGill said last week. "I didn't think it would get to Arkansas so quickly. It was surprising to see everything shut down all at once."
McGill said no decisions have been made yet about how to finish the year in his school system where his father, Rob McGill, is the chief executive officer. Those decisions include whether to reset the April 18 prom or how to hold graduation. The prom, even if it is held, won't be what it could have been, Caleb McGill said, because of hastily altered venues and musicians.
"I know a lot of people are wanting to come back even if its just for that last week to be able to walk [in a graduation ceremony], McGill said.
Gray of Jacksonville said he hoped that school system administrators and state policymakers who will make some final decisions in the coming days won't do it in a rush.
"Take it one week at a time," he urged. "Don't cancel anything too soon."
Gray's father, Daniel Gray, is the president of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board, and was a leader in the 2016 detachment of Jacksonville from the neighboring Pulaski County Special School District. At that point, students from Jacksonville and North Pulaski high schools were all assigned to what was the old Jacksonville High building. A new high school opened in August.
Daniel Gray said every effort will be made to have a ceremony for the Class of 2020 -- the first class to go all four years of high school together as Jacksonville High Titans.
"They have been through a lot in their school careers. It's just not ending in a way that any of us anticipated, the senior Gray said. "It's also a good life lesson. You can't control circumstances, you can only control how you respond. I think everyone understands that it's beyond our control. Hopefully we can still make it memorable for them."
Zakrzewski, who noted that graduation gowns and invitations have all been ordered, said she hoped that state and district decision-makers won't lose focus.
"I hope they won't turn it into a political issue," she said about ending the school year. "It's a human issue. Its about people and protecting our people. That is what should come first."
Zakrzewski's father, J.T. Zakrzewski, said that the turn of events this year is disappointing to seniors and parents, alike, but all are trying to make the best of it, and students are resilient.
"We have a bigger concerns at hand," he said and added, "The Class of 2020 will have some unique memories, that's for sure."
Hegde, the Fayetteville High senior, said there is much she will miss if seniors don't return to campus this spring.
That includes collecting signatures on her yearbook, and participating in the school's traditional "Moving Up Ceremony." That's where -- on the football field -- the current freshman, sophomore and junior classes symbolically move to the next grade and seniors and their teachers honor one another as the seniors walk through a goblet formation of their teachers.
And even if a commencement ceremony is held, Hegde said it is likely to be held in a small venue with a strict limit on numbers of guests-- rather than the traditional location of Bud Walton arena on the UA campus.
"The one thing I keep in mind," Hegde said, " is that everybody else -- not just in my school but in my state, my country and across the world -- are being deprived of this year of lasts. That stinks, but at least we are in in together and for that, I'm happy."
SundayMonday on 03/30/2020