For some school districts, the future of the upcoming school year is still up in the air. But most are planning to welcome students back to the classroom in the fall, with a few new rules.
In Detroit, schools are planning to limit classrooms to 20 students at a time. And the classrooms themselves won’t actually be classrooms. Instead, students will meet in auditoriums, gyms, or cafeterias to allow for maximum social distancing, according to a draft plan released by the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
The school day itself will also be shortened. Students will only be present for six hours a day, which includes daily screenings for staff and students. And some of the virtual elements schools have had to adopt throughout the coronavirus pandemic will remain: Detroit high school students will meet in-person on alternating schedules.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, according to the Detroit News. “Obviously, our work in Detroit has to look different due to the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on the community. We are trying to meet parents where they are at.”
Virginia’s guidance for its schools is less flexible and establishes phases each school must follow. In the first stage, remote learning will predominate, but students with learning disabilities will be allowed to return. In the second, younger students and children with language barriers will be allowed to return. And in the third and final phase, in-person instruction will resume completely, but social distancing, mandatory masks, and daily screenings will remain the status quo.
Each of these phases is contingent upon certain health requirements. The specific requirements, however, are subjectively determined by the Virginia state government: Individual schools must submit plans to the Virginia Department of Education for how they’ll protect students’ health and make up for the educational losses students have suffered over the past few months.
It is important to note that these plans, which represent two options being presented to the vast majority of school districts around the country, seem to be completely independent from statewide reopening plans. In other words, even if Virginia as a state is in its final reopening phase in September, its schools will still be entering the school year in phase one.
It’s worth questioning, then, whether our school districts are actually putting their students’ needs first. Multiple studies conducted throughout the pandemic have shown that distance-learning doesn’t work and that many students have suffered irreparable educational losses as a direct result of the shutdowns. Clearly, our solution, remote learning, wasn’t a solution at all.
Which puts educators in a tough position. Either they elevate above all else concerns about the physical health of their students, who are not statistically susceptible to the coronavirus, or they stick to what they know: education.
