Chesterfield votes to go with virtual school opening
By a 4-1 vote on July 20, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board decided school instruction will be virtual for the start of the school year on Sept. 8 and 9.
The vote could be considered a win for the Chesterfield Education Association, which lobbied for the move.
Parents of students, however, came up short as a survey the district conducted showed that 82 percent preferred at least some instruction in a face-to-face setting.
Deputy superintendent Thomas Taylor briefed the school board prior to the vote, noting the survey got 13,006 responses representing 22,230 of the district’s 63,000 students.
One in four teachers is at higher risk of serious illness due to the COVID-19 virus, he said, citing the Kaiser Family Foundation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 to 8 percent of children under 17 have been infected with the virus, he said.
“Option 4 modified” had the most support of six options, Taylor said. It would divide students in half — with the first group attending Mondays and Tuesdays and the second attending Thursdays and Fridays — with Wednesdays being a cleaning day.
“Two weeks ago we were ready to start with a hybrid model. After July 4, the data changed,” he said, adding that the number of coronavirus cases and the positivity rate increased.
During public comment, Karen Westerville noted the presence of the Virginia Education Association. “The evidence we have today does not support the fear voiced by the VEA,” she said, noting that children account for 2 percent of COVID-19 cases. Westerville said the VEA was “here to drown out the voice of parents and effectively bully teachers who disagree.”
Dan Rucker, a retired teacher and administrator and lifetime VEA member, said he strongly supports reopening schools. “Most viruses generally affect children more,” he said. “This one does not. Not one American under the age of 20 has succumbed to the disease.”
Rucker said “many students have suffered emotionally, psychologically and even physically by not being in schools” since March 13. In addition, “many parents simply cannot afford to stay home to assist their children with online learning.”
“A wise man once said to me: The COVID virus is the only time we had a worldwide pandemic disease where we’ve quarantined the healthy,” Rucker said. “You have different constituencies. Consider your primary constituency: the students.”
Carla Collins said social isolation brought on by virtual learning results in “clear and present dangers and learning deficits … This places our students at considerable risks of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality,” she said, referring to physical, sexual and substance abuse and suicidal ideations.
Emily Klein said teachers make 52 percent of child abuse reports. With virtual learning, child neglect is inevitable, she said. “Please do not shut the door on our children.”
Matoaca board member Dale Harter cast the lone vote against a 100-percent virtual start to the school year. He said that most teachers and education leaders in Matoaca wanted to return to the classroom.
Harter said it is “nearly impossible” to come back 100 percent of the time, but added, “Everything we do comes with a risk. We can’t stop living. We need to find the safest way to continue and return some sort of normalcy to our students.”
He feared that starting school virtually would “drive a wedge and widen achievement gaps. Not every parent will be home to ensure their students learn virtually,” he said, adding that students in grades K through 5 have the highest risk for falling behind.
“To say that this has been the most difficult decision I’ve ever experienced is an understatement,” Bermuda board member Ann Coker said. “There is no clear answer and no win in this situation.”
Midlothian board member Kathryn Haines wondered what the General Assembly will fund for schools in relation to COVID-19 when it reconvenes Aug. 19.
“We are a conservative county,” she said. “A synonym for conservative is cautious.”
Clover Hill board member Dot Heffron said some consider it a “no-brainer” to return to school 100 percent of the time, while others think it’s a “no-brainer” to do 100-percent virtual.
Dale board member Debbie Bailey said she is angry that the decision on how to reopen schools came down to the board, which consists of three former teachers, an accountant, and a midwife. “We are not health experts,” she said. “I need our governor to say it is safe to return to school. Other states are doing this. Why can’t Virginia?”
“No matter what decision we make, there will be a tremendous amount of unhappy people,” she said. “What happens if a teacher tests positive? Is the entire class quarantined? Is the school going to shut down?”
Bailey said the situation “seems like a nightmare to a single-parent family or a two-parent family [with parents who] cannot work from home.”
“The majority of the citizens in the Dale District prefer virtual learning,” she said. “This is the right decision for right now.”
“We know the people will not be happy,” superintendent Merv Daugherty said. “We are working to get to the light at the end of the tunnel as fast as we can and as safe as we can.”
For the board’s Aug. 11 meeting, Taylor said staff would review data changes and any possible student attendance changes. The goal is to develop a medical panel to review data and to provide metrics to provide a safe reopening.
“Staff does not believe we have the scientific data to know if this is the right time” to reopen, he said. Staff would like to bring special education students and English language learners back to school first as part of a phased reopening.
Richmond, Henrico, Hopewell and Petersburg schools will also start the year virtually. Hanover will start five days a week but will let parents choose the virtual option.
As of Saturday, Chesterfield County had 66 COVID-19-related deaths. The positivity rate for the county was 7.7 percent compared to 7.5 percent for the state.
