That is the question on all the parents’ minds in the Township.
Things are up in the air. Contingency plans are being made. Arguments had online, locally and nationally. School in the time of COVID is no simple matter, and since we have no national leadership or guidance, states and districts are on their own in deciding what the 2020-21 school year will look like.
Here in Havertownies HQ, we have one student in the district who is heading to HHS for freshman year. We’ve heard of a 2-days in, 3-days home schedule as a proposal. Philadelphia school district will follow this schedule.
We are waiting for more definitive info from the District before we decide, along with our high schooler, what school will look like. I’m tending toward a fully online option, but I fear for what that may mean for activities and groups. For example, what will band and the radio station do? Can our student still participate in those things if our decision is a fully online school year?
One thing is for sure, though. There will be COVID-19 outbreaks. There is no way to avoid it. If students will be in the building, no matter what the school does or does not do, there will be outbreaks. We cannot be virus-free. To think we can is foolishness.
So now, as parents, we must assess the risk to our individual students, with the contradicting and confusing information we get from a gagged and handicapped CDC, European scientists and county health departments.
Also, I expect the teachers’ unions will have something strong to say about those risks. No-one can smoke in bars anymore because of the risk to the employees, and we aren’t concerned about the risk to teachers? If the unions don’t drag the districts into court soon I will be surprised.
It’s difficult living with so many “what ifs.” So many questions. Not a lot of answers. We just have to wait.
-CCP
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay