Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘5 DAYS IN-SCHOOL’
Area parents call for brick-and-mortar learning
WESTTOWN » A group of parents want their kids to fill up paper pages of notebooks with sharpened pencils in a classroom, rather than pound a keyboard at home.
About 20 demonstrators from several school districts held protest signs high in support of fulltime, in-person learning, Friday afternoon, at the Chester County Government Services Center.
Chester County public and private schools are addressing instruction during the pandemic in several ways, including all in-person, hybrid and virtual learning.
East Bradford resident Stacey Whomsley sends her kids to Starkweather Elementary School and helped organize Friday’s event in favor of full-time brick-and-mortar schooling. The WCASD is teaching with a hybrid schedule of both virtual and inperson learning.
“We believe in choice,” Whomsley said. “We are not looking to force any teachers or students back into the buildings.”
Whomsley noted that West Chester Area School District Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon is following guidelines set by the Chester County Health Department and the CDC,
which require students to distance at least six feet apart when possible. Some districts allow for social distancing at only three feet.
Whomsley also said that the most vulnerable students often live with parents who can’t stay home and sometimes don’t have access to technology.
Chester County issued a Friday afternoon news release: “We understand the issue of in-person education is a highly debated subject. The goal of the Chester County Health Department has been, and continues to be the health, safety and welfare of all county residents.
“The guidance issued by the Chester County Health Department is a recommendation, and ultimately it is the school boards that must weigh up all public health recommendations as they determine the ways in which they will return to in-school learning.
“The Chester County Health Department will continue to partner with all schools, so that as they open up, they can do so as safely as possible, for the health of students, teachers, staff, families and the community.”
Suzie Smith is a West Chester Borough resident and sends her two boys to Hillsdale Elementary School.
“The virtual education is not working for them,” she said about her children. “They are being affected mentally, behaviorally and emotionally, and I’m standing up for what is best for them,” she said. “I’m more worried about their future than the virus impacting them, with zero mortality rate for kids.”
Langley Barnes sends a student with ADHD to East Bradford Elementary School.
“He is struggling with online learning and needs to learn in person – struggling emotionally, mentally and scholastically,” she said. “I’m more worried about his mental and emotional state.”
Evan Kaliner sends a student to Rustin High School and lives in Westtown Township.
“The virtual learning is not working for him,” Kaliner said.
Kaliner talked about the Chester County Health Department Director.
“Jeanne Casner can override state guidance,” he said. “She certainly thinks she is smarter than everybody else.”