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(KNOX) – The fifth anniversary of an event that is painful to recall Gov. Burgum’s announcement that North Dakota’s K-12 schools would be closed by executive order from Monday, March 16, to Friday, March 20, 2020, to “slow the spread” of COVID-19.
As we all remember, this temporary closure lasted through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Our teachers were asked to switch to online instruction. Graduations and sports tournaments were canceled. Our schools didn’t reopen for face-to-face teaching until summer programs began in June 2020, and during the following school year, our teachers were asked to juggle face-to-face and virtual instruction.
It was a stressful time for everyone.
In the wake of the pandemic, we continue to focus on ways to improve instruction and repair the pandemic’s lingering challenges to education, through programs that strengthen instruction in reading, mathematics, computer science, and other subjects.
Virtual classrooms have gained prominence as a teaching option; the Center for Distance Education, which provides a comprehensive curriculum for K-12 students, is increasingly popular, and our state legislators have made it easier for students and their families to use its services.
