Updated
School officials have a lot of tough decisions to make regarding the reopening of schools in order to garner buy-in from the broad stakeholder base of Island families.
Various concerns have been raised by parents, largely relating to the quality of remote or hybrid education, the need for consistent childcare if students are learning at home, and the impetus behind the timeline for reopening.
Anna Cotton, a Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) science teacher, and mother of a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old, stressed that her strongest motivation is for the Island to work together for a mutually agreeable solution.
In a letter to school officials, Cotton wrote that a primary goal should be to bring the community of students, parents, and teachers together to buy in and participate in the reopening. She said most teachers are not going to be giving a lecture if they have face-to-face time with students, “certainly not at the earlier grades; and in high school, lectures can be videotaped and watched by students on their own,” Cotton wrote.
For working families with young children, Cotton said, remote learning creates a predicament that requires additional childcare during the school year, and sustained remote learning would put a great burden on parents.
“The reality is, this isn’t going away anytime soon. Childcare is huge,” Cotton said.
During a phone interview, Cotton told The Times she reached out to the YMCA and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, and said there are enough resources on the Island for a comprehensive community support network that would support all stakeholders.
“We have to acknowledge the fact that people need to work. It can’t be a decision between working and providing for your family, or caring for your child during the day,” Cotton said. “I think there is a way forward with the incredible work that has already been done by the health and wellness committee and the schools. It’s not going to be perfect, not everyone is going to agree, but we have to support working families.”
Cotton said if the schools get too hung up in the early stages of the process, it will be difficult to be prepared when the school year rolls around. “I know, with everything changing so fast, it’s really hard to plan. But the most important thing is to start the process,” she said. “I support the work that was done, and what is going to continue to be done throughout the school year to ensure the health and safety of our staff and students within the buildings.”
One possible element of instruction that Cotton suggested was virtual learning academies, where students would get support to complete their remote instruction.
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said her child is entering MVRHS this year, and one of her main concerns is that the fully remote curriculum will be different from the hybrid, and if the metrics change, or if her child needs to quarantine, there will be inconsistency in the educational experiences.
“I’m currently opting for my student to do the hybrid model, but if she needs to be quarantined (for any reason), and ends up fully remote (for a few weeks or maybe even a month), I’m concerned that her curriculum might change from the hybrid to the fully remote and back again. I think it would be beneficial for all students (hybrid or remote) to follow the same curriculum and assignments,” she said.
Another parent, Jessica Mason, said she has twins entering kindergarten and a son who is entering second grade. She said her concerns are largely with working parents who may be required to stay at home with their children and help them learn in a remote or hybrid model.
“This could place a huge educational burden on parents — parents would have to be teachers,” Mason said. “Facilitating learning for three children during the day is not something that I am at all qualified to do. This is about recognizing the invaluable service that teachers provide.”
Mason said being in an actual classroom not only creates a more conducive learning environment for students, but it allows students to more fully experience their peers, their teachers, and their surroundings.
“We know that in early childhood, kids learn from their experiences with their teachers and everything that is around them. Being in school has huge benefits besides just education,” Mason said.
With Mason and her husband both being working parents, she said, her kids will have to be in a childcare program, and although her family is in a position to do that, many families are not.
She also said that she would not be pushing for in-person learning if the state and local data did not support it. “I am worried we are creating an approach that is grounded in fear and not in fact,” Mason said. “All of these health organizations whose job it is to guide our community, they are telling us the risk is low enough.”
Despite having a chronic health condition, Mason said, she trusts the guidance of the health and wellness committee, and the doctors and health officials who are leading the school in this effort.
And for the foreseeable future, Mason said the case counts will fluctuate, and so will the local risk factor. In order to adapt to the rapidly changing public health crisis, Mason said schools need to rethink the way students receive instruction.
“The only way for us as a community to move through the pandemic and uphold the educational needs of our citizens is to think about how this affects us into the future when our cases fluctuate,” Mason said. She said there are many ways that schools in other places are looking at education through a new lens, including utilizing outdoor education spaces and satellite campuses to accommodate social distancing.
“I recognize this pandemic is unlike anything we have ever seen. So we need to have solutions that are unlike anything we have seen,” Mason said. “It’s very complex to reopen schools, and we have to try and take everyone’s interest into account.”
Mason highlighted the importance of quality and equity in education, and said, “This is the next generation of citizens here, and I think this can be a moment of opportunity. In times of great pain and struggle, there can be great opportunity if everyone works together.”
The All-Island School Committee meets on Thursday, August 20, at 5 pm, after which individual district committees may convene. The all-Island committee will hear a detailed presentation of the remote learning plan, a COVID-19-related budget update, and will discuss the revised 2020–21 school calendar.
Updated to clarify comments made by Anna Cotton.