Virtual experiment: Some public schools do test run, going 100 percent virtual this week

Each week, the Vermilion Parish School District is having to adapt and adjust to virtual school.
This week, superintendent Tommy Byler has all public middle school and high school students attend virtual school.
Byler said it is a “pilot” program if the parish has to one day go virtual 100%.
If students do not have access to the internet at their home, they are taken to their school and learn in the computer lab.
“I feel like we made great strides in moving our distance learning program forward,” Byler said. “We continue to work on logistics and are working on getting relevant instruction in nontraditional ways.”
Abbeville High has been 100% virtual since students returned from the Thanksgiving break. A handful of AHS teachers tested positive before the Thanksgiving break, so the AHS administration and Byler decided to keep AHS students and staff on a 100% virtual schedule.
“I guess you can say we have been the pilot program of the parish,” said AHS principal Brett Darby.
The way it works is that students from their home log into, say, their English I class. The teacher can then see all of the students on a computer screen.
Enrollment is taken each morning, and the teacher begins teaching, and the students are watching on a computer screen.
While the students may not be at school, school administrators can monitor each classroom from a computer.
The Christmas and New Year’s break begins on Dec. 21 and students and staff will be off for two weeks.