Citing the latest guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Republicans in Richmond are pushing for our public schools to be reopened on a normal, 5 day a week schedule. Governor Northam accuses Republicans of “playing politics”. (No, Republicans don’t want our children to miss even more education.)
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
“We want to open schools safely, and we can,” said Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico.
Said Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier: “The reality is that being in the classroom on a normal schedule, five days a week, with the same kids all day, is less risky than a disjointed schedule where people spend a couple days in school and then the rest of the day or rest of the week out of school with different groups of people.”
On Monday the America Academy of Pediatrics lowered their guidance from children in schools remaining 6 feet apart to students being 3 feet apart with masks on and symptom-free. These recommendations spurred Virginia Republicans to support a return to normalcy in our school schedules.
In Virginia local school districts are deciding how schools will reopen in the fall. In Loudoun County, the date for school opening has been delayed until September 8th. Parents have until July 13th to decide if they want their children in school two days a week and two days in distancing learning, or full-time distance learning spending no days in the classroom. Many parents are choosing ‘none of the above’ and homeschooling their children or opting for private schools that are opening full time. In Fairfax, where the system has struggled to implement long-distance learning, some parents, particularly parents of gifted students and other students with special needs, are forming ‘pods’ where a group of children meets in one locale to be taught by a teacher who is not comfortable returning to the classroom. That teacher is paid by the parents.
