The Arkansas State Board of Education is now, with Act 862 established in 2017, allowing public schools and public charter schools to deliver instruction even on days when the superintendent has closed schools. This process is called the Alternate Methods of Instruction (AMI) Plan. A superintendent may close school for a variety of reasons including, as the Board of Education states on their website, “exceptional or emergency circumstances such as: a contagious disease outbreak, inclement weather, or other acts of God; or a utility outage.” With this plan, students will be able to receive assignments online directly from their teachers. These assignments are easily accessible through the Rogers Home Page where students simply click the AMI link on their school home page, then on their teacher’s name to be redirected to the assignments. This new plan may be able to completely replace Rogers Public Schools current system. Currently, during inclement weather the school day is rescheduled most often added to the end of the year.

Other districts in the state also have this plan in action. An anonymous teacher said, “I’m concerned with how some students will complete their AMI assignments due to the socioeconomic status within the Rogers Public Schools District.”  This concern is valid as not every student is guaranteed possession of a device, especially a device with a strong enough internet connection to complete their homework. Another point is that with obstructive weather, power outages may occur which would further reduce availability to reach assignments.

Another source said, “I know some teachers have assigned more work than necessary for their AMI. I have students who had full essays to write and things. I think an AMI assignment should be able to be completed in about 50 minutes because it’s the length of one actual class period.”

On Monday, January 15th, Rogers Public Schools conducted their first AMI day. While there was disappointment expressed on Twitter from the local community, especially students, about the AMI plan, overall it seems functional but only if students would oblige and do the assignments.