This week the RISD’s announcement is coming after presstime about what the 2020-2021 school year is going to look like. I do not envy those making these decisions.
I have a lot of friends who are teachers and a lot of friends with school kids. Some are in both groups.
I understand that kids need to go back to school and parents need to work. I just don’t understand how it’s going to be possible.
And there is certainly no national leadership from Betsy DeVos, but that is no surprise to me.
One of my friends told me that she is doing online homeschooling for all of her kids and not sending them back to public school this year. She feels like this is all going to be an experiment and she didn’t want her kids used as part of this experiment. She lives in Houston though where things are more bleak right now.
This spring semester distance learning went well for some students and was horrible for others.
One parent with two kids said one of her kids loved it and the other hated it. There just seems to be no rhyme or reason. But every child is different so I’m guessing a “one size fits all” approach isn’t going to cut it.
One of my teacher friends teaches deaf and hard of hearing students. The spring semester did not go well for her or the students.
Another former teacher has a daughter with dyslexia, and it didn’t go well for her either. Luckily since my friend was once a teacher she could help her daughter at home, but she said it wasn’t the same. This same friend says she has no issues with her kids returning to school and I’m sure there are other parents who feel the same way.
I just worry about what if it all goes horribly wrong? We are in uncharted territory.
And we aren’t just talking about students here. We’re talking about teachers, everyone who works at the school and all of their family members with the way this virus spreads. And in our town that is a lot of people.
And the sports teams. Rockdalians are crazy about our Tigers and especially Tiger football. We’re all looking forward to Friday nights, but how is that even going to be possible? How do you social distance when the stands are always packed?
There are so many variables. So many different issues to consider. I can’t imagine what this summer has been like for our administrators. Certainly no vacation with all these worries to consider.
The only leadership they get is from the TEA and they are still meeting by Zoom and have mandated the schools will open. Period. How that happens is decided locally by our team.
I don’t envy any of you. Parents, teachers, students or administrators. Not being a teacher or a parent I can’t imagine the worries you are all going through.
And for the parents I hope that whatever decisions are made that you are happy when the announcement comes. Hopefully you’ll have choices that will allow you to feel good about your kids going back to school and being safe.
We told John Glenn “Godspeed” when he went to the moon. I’m sure getting a man on the moon was difficult. Getting our kids back to school safely during a pandemic seems equally difficult right now.
God bless Denise Monzingo. And Godspeed. None of us would want to be in your shoes right now on this journey.
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