It’s back to ‘normal’ for everyone but public school kids. Fayette schools need a plan.
I don’t know exactly what the Fayette County school board members should vote to do at their meeting today. But they need to do something.
Here’s what I do know: As we continue to live through this COVID-19 pandemic, we have prioritized lots of other things getting back to normal before our public schools. We have sports teams playing every day and all weekend. We shop, we go to restaurants, we go to bars. My dire forecast about viral spread from private schools was wrong; they appear to be doing just fine with in-person school.
The University of Kentucky went full speed ahead to start up, and sure enough, their positive cases are making Fayette County look bad over all. Colleges and universities all over the country are doing what they think they need to do. But why are our school children being held hostage to them? It is maddening, for example, that we pretend college football is safe just because it affects the financial bottom line of athletics, but when it comes to the mental and academic health of our kids, we do nothing. It is maddening for UK to do so little about parties every weekend that hike COVID-19 numbers and keep our kids out of school.
The priority of re-opening schools came last when it should have come first. While the schools are doing a terrific job with NTI, we know anecdotally, it’s still taking a toll on our kids and families in Kentucky, and through studies, we know scientifically it’s taking a toll around the country.
In addition to depression and anxiety, it’s making parents crazy to see life going largely back to normal for everyone but public schools kids. We know so much more about this virus than we did in the spring. We know masks and social distancing are a huge preventative; we know that young people get mild versions and we know that our hospitals are not filling up at this moment.
If I were a board member, I would insist that Superintendent Manny Caulk figure out some creative ways to improve our current situation. I’d say ignore the UK numbers, and just make sure UK students are not volunteering or doing coursework in our schools. I’d say, take the advice of parent Todd Burus, who suggested that we could start by letting just elementary students go back first in some kind of hybrid model and see how it works.
I’d also survey the teachers, which strangely does not seem to have been done yet, to see how many are willing to be in the classroom, and how many would rather teach online only.
Elementary students get the least out of hours in front of a computer; they have the most to lose when they don’t learn early basic skills and the most to gain from academic and social building blocks. One of the most impressive things about Caulk when he came was his dedication to closing our achievement gaps, but any progress he has made will be quickly erased. Think of the children with little to no Internet access, little to no food, where parents have to work, for whom school is a lifeline. Why can’t we put the many creative and agile minds in the school district to work for them?
At this point, I really think parents would be relieved to see any movement, even if it doesn’t directly affect older kids. At this point, we are realizing that a vaccine is not around the corner, that pandemic life is here to stay for a while, and that everyone is figuring it out except our public schools.
The district and the school board needs to figure out their own plans, clearly announce what they are trying to do, and then implement them. It’s hard for big school districts to be agile and move quickly, but this is how we have to live now. We know we may move back and forth between remote and in person learning. We understand that plans may have to change at any minute, but at least we’d know we have some.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 9:55 AM.
