Colleen27
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
There are honestly so many sides to this.
After weeks of hearing on the news that “schools have to open” for all the reasons given related to parents and work, my district is starting F2F on Wednesday. Parents were given the choice between full virtual and F2F. The district had estimated that it would probably shake out 80/20 with the majority in person based on surveys. But as the day approaches, scheduling has become a nightmare. This past week had parents calling nonstop to change to virtual. My elementary is now about 55/45. I haven’t heard final district numbers but it was such a flood that they have pushed high school start back a week and a half to regroup and figure out scheduling.
All that to say that yes, while many parents NEED school to open, many with open schools, here At least, are choosing to keep their kids home.
What's happening here is that the parents with more ability to keep their kids home, whether because they have a SAH (or laid off) parent in the household or a parent that is working from home or can arrange/afford a "pod" style arrangement or in-home caregiver, are keeping their kids home. Parents who are struggling, who have to go into work every day, who don't have support systems to lean on, who can't get home internet, are opting for in-person. But that's how our district wanted it to work out, because the parents who opt for distance learning are allowing better distancing and protective measures for those students who will be attending in person by reducing the number of students in the classroom. Our state didn't mandate social distancing in classrooms because it is impossible within the physical and economic constrains most schools operate under, but by given parents the option of distance learning, public schools are finding they can reduce their in-classroom populations by anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2, which then does allow for wider spacing between desks, better divisions at meal time, etc.