BUSD makes independent study formal

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The coronavirus shutdown replaced in-class learning with remote learning. Some students struggled outside of the classroom while other students found independent study to be beneficial. The Bonsall Unified School District chose to incorporate the benefits of independent study into a formal program.

"We have the chance to take care of a lot of students and leverage the things we've learned over the last 18 months," said BUSD Superintendent Joseph Clevenger.

"We're not just surviving," Clevenger said. "We've actually learned to grow."

Those who desire to be in a classroom every school day now have that option, but the independent study option has been added. "Everyone who's there this year is there by choice," Clevenger said.

"It's a new angle," Clevenger said. "We've got a whole new angle about the way the kids are learning."

Clevenger noted that students learn differently and the best setting for learning depends on the student. "There's no one way," he said. "You've got many different styles of learning."

Approximately 60 BUSD students are participating in the independent study program, which equates to more than 2% of the total enrollment. "The participation has been incredible so far this year," Clevenger said.

Students in all grade levels are participating in the independent study program. "It's actually spread out pretty evenly," Clevenger said.

"Underlying all of this is frequent check-ins," Clevenger said. "Students still have the obligation to log a certain amount of hours per day."

The teacher involvement is greatest for the independent study students from kindergarten through third grade. "We still have daily learning taking place through Zoom, through video," Clevenger said. "We still have daily interaction and lessons but not the whole day."

For students from fourth grade through eighth grade, a live check-in each day occurs although not the video instruction. "We scaled it back a little bit," Clevenger said.

"For the high school, we check once a week live," Clevenger said. "As the students get older we feel they're ready to take on more responsibility."

A student who abuses that responsibility or one who is not meeting standards may not be able to remain in the independent study program. "We do have the ability to remove students from this program if it's not working," Clevenger said.

A conference will precede any decision to remove a student from independent study.

Although students must make a commitment, that commitment does not necessarily need to take place during traditional classroom hours. "There is a certain flexibility to that," Clevenger said. "This does provide lots of flexibility for students to structure their day."

That flexibility allows students who care for animals to structure their academic time around the animal needs. Athletes who compete in tournaments or meets can structure their school duties around travel, practice, and competition hours.

Some students may have found that occasional breaks may be beneficial or that they learn best during certain hours of the day. "This keeps options available for our kids," Clevenger said.

The flexibility also allows students to take all desired courses rather than having to choose one course if multiple desired courses are offered during the same period.

The coronavirus shutdown also caused many employees to work from home, and even after they were allowed to return to their offices, many found telecommuting to be beneficial for various reasons. "There's a lot of similarities there," Clevenger said of the school district's independent study program.

Clevenger was the principal at Sullivan Middle School from 2015 to 2018 before joining the Vista Unified School District as the principal of Rancho Buena Vista High School. Vista Virtual School is the Vista Unified School District's independent study school. "Hopefully, like our neighboring districts, this will be a really valuable thing for a portion of our students," Clevenger said.

"Our intent is to make sure every kid has access to outstanding opportunities," Clevenger said. "I think that's a good thing."