Reopening of schools requires tough decisions and sticking to them

I am a high school teacher with children in 10th, 8th and 5th grade. There has been a lot of discussion about opening schools and how to do so safely. I think that we should be looking at this and need to do so in a way that serves our student population, while also taking precautions regarding COVID-19 (“Baltimore County schools releases plan to bring students back to classrooms, but offers no new return dates,” Oct. 30).

If I were to design a plan for Baltimore County Public Schools, it would begin with the premise that doing things piecemeal or in a rush is not helpful. The priority should be to get the elementary age students into school four days a week starting in the second semester. High school and middle school students should remain online for the rest of the year in order to free up the building space to accomplish this. If we utilize all of our buildings and repurpose some staff, this should be manageable.

Elementary school children seem to be struggling in a way that the older students are not. Kids under the age of 10 are not equipped to be selfsufficient in the way that online learning demands. They also create day care dilemmas for their parents when they are not in school which is something that needs to be considered as well.

As a teacher, the certainty that would come with knowing that we will be online for the rest of the year will assist with planning and with utilizing the available technology without feeling like it could be wasted effort. Let me assure you that those of us teaching are working harder than we have had to since our first year of teaching. There will always be people who doubt this and teachers who are subpar, but by and large most of us are doing the best that we can and one of the biggest hindrances is the uncertainty of our return.

If Baltimore County committed to getting the elementary school children back to in-person learning second semester (or after Christmas), it would benefit these students, our economy and our sanity. Making a decent decision with time to implement it is better than holding out to try and make the best decision last minute. This is what true leadership entails — making hard choices and sticking with them.

Kevin Dalsimer, Towson

“The certainty that would come with knowing that we will be online for the rest of the year will assist with planning and with utilizing the available technology.”