Parents, we’re with you in wanting schools to open. But a COVID-19 delay makes sense
A revolt may be brewing over schools.
Some parents of Tarrant County schoolchildren have set their sights on the county’s public-health order requiring local schools to keep students off campus until Sept. 28. As a result, the first six weeks of classes in districts such as Fort Worth and Arlington will be conducted only online, and many parents have had quite enough of that.
Several are angry enough that they plan to protest at the county government building Monday and attend the Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday to voice their dissent.
We understand the frustration. We’re eager for schools to open as soon as possible. It’s necessary for the well-being of students and their families.
But the current status of the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t allow for it. And that’s not the fault of public health officials. That’s on each and every one of us. Health officials are concerned that Labor Day could result in a spike of cases, similar to what we saw after Memorial Day, that could spread in schools.
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Plus, the order will help ensure that schools receive uninterrupted state funding. The Texas Education Agency has given schools some flexibility, but they clearly won’t be punished if they are bound by local health orders. And with all that lies ahead, schools are going to need every dollar they can get.
Without the order, it’s doubtful local schools would have opened for in-person classes on time, anyway. For one thing, it’s clear they have a fair bit of work to do to persuade teachers that conditions will be safe.
We emphatically agree with angry parents about one thing: Children need to be in school. There are severe social, emotional and educational deficiencies associated with all these months at home, and for children with special needs, it’s even worse. Schools provide vital services for many families.
And yes, evidence suggests that children are mostly not susceptible to the worst consequences of COVID-19. But like so much with this novel coronavirus, there’s a lot we don’t know about how the virus affects them and their role in transmitting it.
So, opening schools represents some level of risk. The best way to mitigate it is to ensure that the pandemic is under control. That means staying home as much as possible, and wearing masks and maintaining distance when you are out.
Much of the anger about the decision to start the year with online instruction centers on the weaknesses of virtual lessons. Teachers and administrators had to slap those together with little notice in the spring, and many parents complained that at-home school amounted to little more than worksheets emailed back and forth. Far too many children slipped through the cracks.
District leaders have pledged that they’ve improved the system, with more teacher training and better plans to keep track of students’ work. If not, they must be held accountable. And no matter how well it’s structured, virtual instruction will always be a stop-gap measure. It can never compare to real interaction with teachers and other students.
Some parents are even taking matters into their own hands, creating neighborhood “pods” and hiring instructors to help with lessons. That’s an option available to few families, however; the rest need the full support of public schools.
We’re glad to see parents engage in their communities’ decisions. None of this is easy, and public pressure on leaders to make the right decisions is appropriate.
And those leaders — at the county, school district and state level — must do a better job of explaining what we’re up against and why they are making the choices that they are.
In this case, the right thing is to delay school, and the health order was the necessary tool.