A conversation during a recent Warren County School District board meeting regarding flexible learning merits further discussion for both good and bad.

We’re referring to the discussion over flexible learning on days when weather forces school to be canceled or on delay. It’s obviously preferable to have students learning when school is canceled – particularly when we have a stretch of severe weather like the one that has hit Warren County over the past couple of weeks. It would be great to have good options for students across the county to be learning if school is canceled.

Of course, that’s difficult in a county without reliable internet. Readers are familiar with the efforts of both private communications companies and Warren County to build out broadband internet infrastructure. That buildout would make at-home learning possible in the county – but we’re not nearly there yet.

What’s left? Flexible learning in Warren County right now would likely include a mix of online work and work that can be done without a teacher’s supervision. It should be an option – but we shouldn’t forget the lessons learned during COVID-19.

That’s particularly true for older students, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institute released in December that found the older the student was in the 2019-20 school year, the lower the subsequent proficiency rate trajectory. In essence, students who were used to in-class learning lost proficiency at a higher rate than younger students who began their schooling with the disruption.

“If we want to truly value the instruction that our students receive in the classroom, and it’s been talked about in the past, it doesn’t measure up as closely as to having kids in school,” said Gary Weber, Warren County School District superintendent.

Warren County school board members should want to have flexible learning available as an option during particularly difficult stretches of winter weather. But we shouldn’t forget one of the biggest lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, either, and remember that flexible learning should be used sparingly.