As schools national wrestling to finalize the opening of plans, some have changed course abruptly due to coronavirus erupted as a pushback from the community. One school district in New Jersey voted this week to keep all classes at a distance, despite Governor Phil Murphy insisting for months on some form of personal classes.
In a major upheaval, Murphy’s office said it will announce plans to make distance learning easier as an option later on Wednesday, revealing how uncertain the next school year will be.
“It became fruitless to keep trying to do what was impossible. So they will spend the next five weeks trying to make distance learning the best it can be,” said Pat Politano, a spokesman for New York. school district, whose board moved Monday to take lessons entirely online.
Politano said that more than 400 teachers already have their choice for personal health care classes, among them: first-class teacher Marie Tichenor.
“I want everyone to feel safe. Myself, my students, my colleagues, my family,” Tichenor said.
Tichenor said she applied for a medical exemption because her husband was immunocompromised, but she also complained about how distancing guidelines hurt her ability to teach when they were in class.
“What do I do when a child cries and her shoes have to be tied? How do I react and say, ‘I can not help you, I can not comfort you, because we have to be six feet apart,'” she said.
As schools nationwide figure out how best to reopen, some are already facing speed bumps.
Schools in Elkhart County, Indiana are now authorized to start in person. She first announced that she would start the school year digitally, prompting students and parents to protest outside the provincial health department in favor of resumption.
And days after a photo surfaced of a jam pack went on at North Paulding High School in Georgia, there were confirmed at least nine coronavirus cases, prompting a temporary switch to further learning. The reception for that decision was not without controversy.
At a meeting of Paulding County School District Tuesday, some expressed doubts that the coronavirus would affect their children; however studies indicate that children can become infected. One teacher was not amused.
“I liked students from the fact that I choose to wear a mask. That is not acceptable,” the teacher said.
Back in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Politano said the priority is giving students a quality experience at home.
“This is a working class and a low income community, but their children are entitled to equal education and we will work like hell to see that they get that,” he said.
In addition to their educational needs, more than 75% of children in Elizabeth Public Schools qualify for free or afternoon for reduced price. To serve that question, the district has instituted a grab-and-go program to continue offering food to its students.
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