West Virginia Legislative leaders have issued a bi-partisan call for Governor Jim Justice to cancel the rest of the public school year. (Read more from Brad McElhinny.)
Senate President Mitch Carmichael, Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Minority Leader Tim Miley in a letter to Justice said the projected peak of the virus in West Virginia in early May means it would be a mistake to reopen schools.
“Based on these projections, we believe it would be wise to fall on the side of caution and keep students at home for the remainder of the 2020 school year rather than risk sending our children into potentially hazardous and untenable learning environments,” they said.
No one would argue with the logic of protecting the health and safety of students, teachers and staff. That’s a given, and it’s the reason schools were closed in the first place last month. However, there is no need to make that decision immediately.
Yes, Justice postponed the May 12 Primary Election for a month, but county clerks and the Secretary of State had various deadlines quickly approaching. Also, West Virginia did not want to find itself in the same chaotic situation as neighboring Ohio where the election was called off, back on and then called off again within a few hours of Election Day.
Schools are different. Administrators, teachers and staff have experience in opening and closing and, given a few days notice, could swing back into action… if, and that’s an important “if,” health officials who are advising the Governor and State School Superintendent Clayton Burch deem it is safe to return.
The lawmakers say in their letter that students, their parents, teachers, service workers and the public would be best served with the certainty that would come with closing. Well, yes, but these are wildly uncertain times. Individuals and institutions are all trying to adjust to rapidly changing developments because of the pandemic.
But here is one certainty: If you announce a suspension of the 2019-2020 school year, learning will cease. Superintendent Burch acknowledges that the amount of learning that is going on now varies widely from student to student and county to county, but he adds that teachers are trying to stay engaged with their students.
“The skills need to stay sharp,” he said. “They need to stay engaged.” Just this week the Department of Education released a more detailed instruction and guidance for remote learning during the pandemic.
West Virginia Education President Dale Lee agrees that the school year should continue. “Our educators are doing a fantastic job of reaching out to all kids and we’re going to continue that,” Lee said, adding that if the school year is canceled, “Any learning that is happening stops, any engagement stops.”
Currently, schools are closed until April 30. Maybe they can reopen after that, or maybe not. Burch and Lee both believe that even a couple weeks of in-class instruction before the end of the semester would be valuable.
West Virginia’s school teachers often say that the kids come first. If we take them at their word then we’ll assume that the vast majority of them have come up with innovative ways to stay engaged with their students and keep them from falling behind.
That’s the preferable kind of certainty we need during these difficult times, rather than just throwing in the towel.