Pivot goes viral in schools’ COVID transition defense

When Kelly analyzes the COVID-19 fastbreak of the previous six months – where schools, parents and students have had to perform back flips to keep up with shifting medical advice – he prioritizes the trait that has served every Catholic school administrator well during this uninvited laboratory test: Never be afraid to pivot.
    

As a case in point, in mid-July, De La Salle already had communicated with parents that the school year would open on campus for more than 500 students, with all safety protocols followed to keep everyone safe.
    

Then, after the spike in COVID-related cases during the early summer became apparent, Kelly and his administrative team, after surveying parents and teachers, pivoted, emailing parents with a new plan that called for “hybrid” learning in the first three weeks of school – with half the students learning on campus and the other half learning remotely from home on rotating days – until everyone returns to campus on the Tuesday after Labor Day.
    

“I hated to change, because I’m a person who’s always right,” Kelly said, laughing. “I told the parents that was painful for me, but in these days of changing information, it almost seems like as soon as you make a commitment to something, something changes on the political or the governmental or the health side. 
    

“The fluctuation in information has been incredibly difficult. We’ve shared with our parents that we will pivot again as necessary. We believe, in our heart of hearts, that this is the best thing for De La Salle and the right thing to do. I told the parents that the fact that we pivoted should give them more confidence in us, not less. This is the brave thing to do.”
    

With the lone exception of Katrina, COVID-19 has been the most severe challenge in decades to every aspect of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Kelly says his expansive campus – relative to the size of his student body – can easily accommodate the social distancing guidelines required by civil authorities.
    

During a summer of cleaning and throwing away things that had been gathering dust – to provide students with even more elbow room – the school has made sure desks are at least 6 feet apart and created one-way traffic patterns in hallways and stairwells to limit excessive contact.
    

“In the past, where it would take 12 steps to get to your next classroom, now it’s going to take 180 to get there,” Kelly said.
    

As a long-time administrator and coach, Kelly said teenagers, contrary to commonly accepted wisdom, aren’t as skeptical and jaded as social media might make them appear.
    

“If you’re in education long enough and have dealt with young people long enough, you realize that they adapt much quicker than we do, really,” Kelly said.
    

With all the directional arrows and spaced-out circles dotting the hallways and cafeteria, some of De La Salle’s teachers are having flashbacks.
    

“A few teachers have made the comment that, even at the high school level, in some ways it’s going to feel like we’re teaching pre-K – ‘This is how you walk in the hallway,’ ‘This is what it means to stand on a line,’” Kelly said, smiling.
    

Communicating with parents is something Kelly says has kept De La Salle in good stead. He also has made it clear to his faculty that they must follow the safety guidelines meticulously, which means the days of discussing students at close distance over the water cooler or coffee pot in the faculty lounge have been temporarily suspended.
    

“I’ve been very forceful with them,” Kelly said. “De La Salle would not exist unless there are students. That’s the lifeblood of any school. But De La Salle cannot function without faculty. 
    

“I told them, ‘I debated about getting all of the furniture out of the faculty workroom so that we can’t sit next to one another.’ I can’t have them interacting closely. The way we’re designed, if a student tests positive, only one student has to go home – that student. I can’t have three or four faculty test positive because they were interacting too closely. That’s going to be a challenge because faculties are closely knit and gain sustenance from bouncing ideas off one another.”
    

Another of Kelly’s concerns is the unintended transmission of the disease.
    

“There is no one who does not have a loved one who is at risk,” Kelly said. “We all do. My mom is 88. Every student has someone they love dearly who is in that at-risk category.”
    

One of Kelly’s preferred communication tools is a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) sheet, which he sat down one day to compile on his computer.
    

It ran on for eight pages.
    

“Even after those eight pages, there were a number of things where I basically said, ‘Just hold your horses on these five or six other items because we’re still working these things out,’” Kelly said. “Communication is everything, and your parents and your kids want to hear from you. At the same time, you always want to have your ducks in a row before you communicate. That’s been one of the greatest challenges.”
    

At least for the early going, principal Perry Rogers has designed three possible course schedules for each student – depending on shifting circumstances related to on-campus versus remote learning. De La Salle’s normal schedule of students taking four, 90-minute classes a day has been shifted temporarily to taking seven, 55-minute classes.
    

The guidelines even cover how students dress if they are learning remotely on their laptops. A Wednesday “flex” day has been built into the schedule to keep some semblance of extracurricular club meetings.
    

Kelly was able to get away for five days for a brief Florida vacation, but even after hitting a few hours on the beach, he had his laptop with him to answer emails from parents and teachers. He’s been amazed at how much the entrenched battle over returning kids to campus – should they be there or shouldn’t they? – has become a 24/7 news event chained to the uncertainty of the virus.
    

“We’re all rubberneckers,” Kelly said. “The bad news is going to stop us in our tracks. It’s just human nature. But, in some ways, it’s been sort of shocking to put on the national news every morning, and the first thing has been ‘teaching.’ When does that ever happen? It’s amazing to think we are the story now. It’s so challenging in that there really is no one best solution.”
    

Does it feel like 2005 in NOLA again?
    

“What I see as the difference is that while you certainly had your roller coaster of emotions for months after Katrina, it was kind of a constant – slowly but surely – one more light coming on, one more candle being lit,” Kelly said. “People were pitching in. We’re going to fight for this city. This is home. This is what we love. I think the difference here is that it’s hard to see that.”
    

All of which means, to a very good basketball coach, be prepared to pivot.
    

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.