As school year looms, parents must choose between risky and difficult options
Today marks 130 days since the schools closed in Washington state. That’s four months and one week that my children, ages 7 and 10, have been home 24/7.
On the one hand, we’ve had a lot of quality family time. On the other, sibling rivalry has reached a new level, and I have occasionally been the “worst mother EVER,” a new level of animosity that my eldest has bestowed on me. I find myself exhausted at constant interruption; I am struggling to get anything done. Yet our family is one of the lucky ones: healthy, gainfully employed, and with one parent who is flexible to adapt to childcare and schooling needs.
Parents everywhere anxiously await word from school districts about what schooling will look like in the fall. Debate has ensued over what the best option might be. Some parents are desperate for in-person schooling. Others are terrified to send their kids back to school. Some are pushing districts to employ outdoor classrooms to minimize disease transmission, while still others are assembling learning pods, where a small group of families lump their kids together at home, with a hired tutor to guide learning.
Some private schools are advertising five-day-a-week in-person instruction, and homeschooling networks report increased interest in their expertise.
Also in the mix are the voices of teachers and staff. The Olympia Education Association recently posted the results of a poll to their website: how teachers felt about returning to in-person schooling. Over three quarters of respondents stated they were “uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with returning.
In the South Sound, school is increasingly looking like a hybrid model of two days weekly in the classroom, and three days at home. Families also would have the option to choose full-time distance learning. Districts expect to confirm their planned offerings within the next couple of weeks.
The Trump administration has insisted that schools open fully this fall, but has not offered a plan nor resources to facilitate this being done safely. The Centers for Disease Control says a return to traditional schooling with in-person classes would involve the highest risk for COVID-19 spread. Even in-person classes with students spaced further is considered risky. The lowest risk, no surprise, is virtual learning.
So why bother opening schools at all? Well, for one, the economy. Parents need to be able to work, and many of them rely on schools for childcare. As well, schools have long been relied on to fill gaps in the social safety net, providing food, clothing, school supplies, and supervision to kids in need.
The flip side of this equity issue is that the kids who are in greatest need of the wraparound services provided by schools are also likely to suffer the greatest negative impact from COVID-19 infection.
As the clock ticks towards September, Washington state cases are rising everywhere but in Yakima. A July 17 situation report stated that Washington is in an “explosive situation,” concluding that if current trends continue, schools will not be able to reopen safely in the fall.
As a parent, it is hard to avoid feeling like no matter what path you choose for your kids this fall you are making some sort of mistake. As with so many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an ideal solution does not appear to be on the table.
If there is one thing this pandemic seems to be hammering home, it is that this is a time for grace. Grace for ourselves, for our kids, for each other. And the kids — with some grace — they’ll probably be all right.