The 2020-21 school year is shapingupasa disaster
Sending kids back to school in September is going to be a disaster, no matter what happens, and the fact each district is putting into place their own plans is just going to complicate matters.
Let’s look at Ewing, Hamilton, and Hopewell. These are not set-in-cement plans, but they’re close to it. Ewing is planning full-day, everyday, all day for the elementary age students. For middle and high school, half-days and an A/B schedule. Hamilton’s plan - at least the one supported by the superintendent calls for all kids to be on a A/B/C schedule, meaning in a classroom once every three days. Hopewell wants their elementary kids in every day, grades 6-12 every other day.
Already, three districts, three wildly different plans. It’s crazy to consider that if things go off the way the planners say a 2nd grader in Ewing will be in school all day every day, and a 2nd grader in Hamilton will be in school once every three days.
Already, I suppose you see the issues. Parents in Ewing might think every day, all day is too much, and Hamilton parents might think once every three days is too little. Conversely, some Ewing parents are probably freaking knowing their kids will be school all day, every day, and I’m sure some Hamilton parents are breathing a sigh of relief they only have to deal with a every-third day scenario. Additionally, all three districts - and every other district I glanced at - will be offering a full, online-only course of study for kids who aren’t going back to school.
Oh, one other thing: All the districts I’ve looked at are also mandating masks for everyone, students included.
Almost makes you wonder if this is - you know - going to work, or if we’d all be better off just sticking to the online-only model until such a time there’s a vaccine, a treatment, or neither.
Honestly, we may end up in that scenario anyway, as there is zero doubt Gov. Phil Murphy will pull the plug on the reopening of schools if coronavirus cases in New Jersey start ticking back up.
Thankfully, we’ll have some data for Murphy to determine dates with, as most states send their kids back to school before we do. For instance, North Carolina goes back about three weeks before most New Jersey districts. Hawaii starts back up again August 4. We’ll be able to see how these states are doing before we make any final decisions.
Are there easy answers here? Hell no. Do we all want our kids to get back to life-as-semi-normal? Hell yes. Do we want them learning and socializing and growing? Hell to the hell to the hell yes.
But the fact of the matter is we don’t know if it’s prudent. Is sending kids back to school the right move? Or will it help re-ignite the coronavirus fire in New Jersey?
The questions don’t stop there. How many teachers are going to sit out? How many parents aren’t going to send their kids? If one kid in Mrs. Jones’s class tests positive, to they shut down the class? The grade? The school? The district? The county? The state? Can kids actually keep masks on all day? What about lunch? What about bussing? What about dismissal? What about … everything?
No easy answers. We’re all navigating this for the first time.
Right now, I plan on sending my kids to school in September. I expect our curve to remain flat. I expect it to be reasonably safe to send them back.
But I’ll do a 180 on that in .2 seconds if I deem it necessary.
And even though I’m saying now I’ll send them back, two months is a long way away, and as I sit here typing, there is a thought ticking around the back of my brain: Would I sit in a room all day with 8, 10, 12, 15 other masked strangers right now? The answer is “almost certainly not.” But I’m hoping I’d say “yes, with reservations” come September, otherwise … well, otherwise I guess I need to make sure all the Chromebooks are charged up and ready to go.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.