As fear of the virus wins out, a fast retreat from in-person learning - The Washington Post

As fear of the virus wins out, a fast retreat from in-person learning - The Washington Post

As fear of the virus wins out, a fast retreat from in-person learning

From the moment schools shuttered unceremoniously in March, one thought dominated: How to return.

Officials across the Washington region huddled to make plans for a triumphant resumption of in-person learning. Discussions persisted into the summer: Superintendents held listening sessions to solicit safety suggestions, parents tried to convince kids that face masks aren’t so bad, and educators scoured YouTube for videos depicting what socially distant teaching looks like in other countries.

Fairfax County Public Schools was the first to promise that kids could return, if only for two days a week. Still, administrators there offered a choice: Parents could also keep their kids home for 100 percent online learning. Almost immediately, several nearby school systems debuted near-identical plans, built around what became known as the “hybrid option.”

But as July rolled around — and coronavirus cases held stubbornly steady in the D.C. area, while surging to unprecedented heights elsewhere — momentum for in-person school stalled. Then it shifted in the other direction. A vocal coalition of teachers, staff and parents clamored for online-only instruction. They sent long emails and made angry phone calls. They flooded virtual board meetings, where teachers gave tearful testimony about how they were being forced to pick between their jobs or their lives.

Despite mounting pressure from President Trump to reopen full time, district after district gave in. In the span of two weeks, at least half a dozen school systems in D.C., Maryland and Virginia — the CONTINUE READING: As fear of the virus wins out, a fast retreat from in-person learning - The Washington Post