Time for students to return
Resume classroom instruction safely, but soon — for the sake of everyone involved
When Gov. Ralph Northam ordered schools closed in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it was the prudent, responsible decision. Health officials had little data about the disease’s effect on children but understood discouraging large gatherings in enclosed spaces was necessary to save lives.
Today, we know more about how COVID19 spreads, who it affects and how to protect against — though not prevent — infection. At the same time, we have more information about the inequality of online learning and know that students are falling behind for a lack of in-person instruction.
That cannot continue indefinitely, and the Northam administration needs to follow through on its summer promise to help school districts reopen safely rather than continue to allow local officials to fumble their way through.
Public education should be the great equalizer in our society and particularly in Virginia. Some of the commonwealth’s earliest statesmen were passionate advocates for schooling and emphasized that a basic education should be a right — though it took centuries for that noble principle to be equally extended to all.
There is already tremendous inequity in the education children receive in Virginia, based on location and the relative wealth of their communities. The pandemic threatens to exacerbate that gap, with its reliance on virtual learning that is a vastly different experience for the haves and have-nots.
When the coronavirus outbreak began, the governor ordered schools closed, as did many of his peers, with the hope that the virus would subside enough to allow a return to classes in the next academic year.
Officials in Richmond promised to provide a blueprint that local officials could
use to make decisions about the 2020-21 school year and followed through with that guidance in July. The governor said that the Department of Education would sign off on reopening plans, providing the type of oversight and assistance that would help local officials make thoughtful decisions.
But the administration subsequently backed away from that pledge, leaving
district officials to fend for themselves. The result is a hodge-podge of reopening plans that differ widely from one community to the next, undermining the notion of education equity in the commonwealth.
In practical terms, it means thousands of kids in Virginia Beach are now attending school in person (though not all students have returned to the classroom) while in
Norfolk, school officials met recently for seven hours to discuss reopening only to fail to reach agreement. And that scenario has been repeated throughout Hampton Roads.
The good news is that it’s not too late to correct Virginia’s course.
The holidays are approaching, a time when people will be tempted to host family and friends for festivities indoors or travel for gatherings with people outside their immediate family.
That suggests Virginia should commit all its energies and resources to resume in-person instruction in some fashion after the holidays, even if students only meet in a classroom setting a few times each week.
Clear direction from Richmond would take the guesswork out of the process.
Yes, school systems should be under local control, with elected officials making decisions, but lending uniformity to the process — identifying key metrics and the like — would be a huge help.
Likewise, schools need money and supplies to protect all those involved in public education. While we know kids are unlikely to suffer the effects of COVID19 they can carry the disease to teachers, school staff, administrators and home to their families.
The priority must be getting kids back in the classroom — safely, responsibly and as soon as possible. And that requires a coronavirus plan tailored to that end that takes the voices of education officials, parents, teachers and other stakeholders into account.
While state leaders in Richmond generally deserve high marks for their handling of the pandemic, they have not provided the type of detailed guidance needed for local school officials to make thoughtful decisions about reopening.
That has to change, and quickly. The children cannot afford to wait.