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Parents of students who are learning at home shouldn’t necessarily be counting on the dining room table salvage anytime soon.
After seeing two academic years marred by the pandemic, school leaders across the country are considering the possibility of continuing distance learning next fall, at the start of another school year.
“We have no illusions that COVID will be eradicated by the time the school year begins,” said William “Chip” Sudderth III, a spokesperson for schools in Durham, North Carolina, whose students have graduated. school buildings since March. .
President Joe Biden has reopened schools a top priority, but administrators say there is much to consider as new strains of the coronavirus emerge and teachers wait their turn for vaccinations.
And while many parents demand that schools reopen completely, others say they won’t feel safe sending children back to classrooms until vaccines are available, even for young students. Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top public health expert, said late last month that the Biden administration hoped to start vaccinating children in late spring or early summer.
By then, the districts will be in full preparation for the next school year.
“As for 2021-2022, at least part of this school year will likely still be tied to the pandemic response assuming children will not have access to the vaccine, or at least many will not,” said Superintendent Brian Woods, of the Northside Independent School District, among the largest districts in Texas.
This could mean a more teacher-friendly version of the mix of in-person and distance learning that’s going on right now, one that doesn’t require teachers to simultaneously instruct two groups. This could be accomplished either by splitting up staffing or by reorganizing schedules, he said, adding that the longer-term addition could be an entirely remote option for students who have left the school permanently. traditional school.
“There’s going to be an element of genius that can’t be put back into the bottle,” Woods said. “I think there will always now be a group of families who want a virtual option. … We know we can do it, but are we ready to do it?
Faced with the same reality, the Unified School District of West Contra Costa, Calif., Is planning a new K-12 virtual academy for 2021-2022.
“One thing we learned during the pandemic is that teaching and learning are now different and it will never be what we thought was ‘normal’ again,” the point of order reads. January day before the Education Council.
The fulcrum of distance learning last March proved to be a lifeline for the education system, but concerns grow every month about the effects on racial inequalities, the academic performance of students, attendance and their general well-being.
In Durham, North Carolina, schools – which have been totally remote since March – announced last month that they would remain so until the end of the current school year.
Beyond that, Sudderth said, “the prevalence of the disease will determine what we are able to do.”
The guideline for whether the district of 32,000 students could transition from distance learning to blended learning in January was a test positive rate of less than 4%. But it’s unclear whether this metric or others that so far have been set by states or districts will hold up.
Biden, in an executive first order, ordered his secretary of education to provide “evidence-based advice” and guidance to schools to safely conduct in-person learning.
“I hope we don’t have to do the hybrid, but I don’t want to be in a position where we haven’t thought about everything,” said Eva Moskowitz, whose 47 charter schools in the Success Academy welcomes 20,000 students. At New York.
Successful students have been enrolling since the start of the school year for full days of live distance education on school-provided laptops and tablets, a grueling endeavor Moskowitz plans to complete for the next year. current school year May 28. The 2021-2022 school year will then begin on August 2, possibly in a hybrid format.
“Honestly, I don’t know what the chances are” of continuing distance learning in the next school year, she said.
“Logic would tell me we shouldn’t have to, but my knowledge of government makes me a little more hesitant,” she said, pointing to the sometimes conflicting guidelines from city and state and the government. slow start to vaccine deployment.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised schools in the nation’s largest school district “will return to their full potential in September.”
“Everyone wants to be back,” he says.
But the leader of the powerful teachers’ union, Michael Mulgrew, says it is too early to commit. Schools currently offer in-person classes to elementary and pre-K students who wish to do so. A plan announced Monday by De Blasio will reopen the college buildings February 25, but there is no plan for high schools yet.
“It’s one of my goals, but I can’t say they will open,” the president of the United Teachers’ Federation said in an interview. His take on the mayor’s commitment: “It’s not what you want. It’s about what you can do safely. “
Chancellor Richard Carranza has acknowledged that while the goal is school in person, distance learning “will stay with us” after the pandemic.
“We see that as an element,” he said at a press conference Monday with de Blasio.
Mulgrew said it would take more than vaccines for teachers to fully and safely open schools.
He noted that scientists were not yet sure whether those vaccinated could still spread the virus, even if they were not sick themselves. And he wonders how comfortable families will feel about having unvaccinated children and young teens who start the New Year unvaccinated.
“This is where it gets difficult. So how do you say you open in September when we need to get these questions answered? ” He asked.
A coalition of parents in Evanston, Ill., Asked Superintendent Eric Witherspoon what assurances he can give that Evanston Township High School will provide in-person learning during the 2021-2022 school year.
“We are seeing a real crisis in our community,” said Laurel O’Sullivan, the parent of a high school student in Evanston, by phone. “We are a coalition that includes mental health and medical experts who, in their community practices, see children on a daily basis going through a huge wave of mental and emotional health crises. … It is a social, emotional and academic crisis that we are witnessing.
The district did not respond to a request for comment.
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Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York. Associated Press editor Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.
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