With United States President Donald Trump pushing for schools to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, Parkway school district administrators discussed a flexible reopening plan that would include full-time in-person classes, full-time online learning, and a hybrid system.
Pushing forward with reopening
According to AP News, district officials are wary of the threat of the coronavirus despite Trump insisting that the pandemic is the least of the country's concern. The fall semester classes are set to open in five weeks, raising doubts about the predictions made for the safety of the students and teachers.
Schools across the nation are planning to resume classes on August 24 despite some states seeing a surge in coronavirus cases with Missouri being the worst-stricken in June and seeing a massive spike in positive infections and hospitalizations.
Assistant Superintendent Kevin Beckner stated that two weeks ago he already believed of the possibility that they would be coming back. Recently, however, he expressed his doubts about returning due to the sudden change in the coronavirus situation.
With the increasing number of COVID-19 patients across the United States, schools are facing the dilemma of choosing how to reopen their education establishments while keeping their personnel and students safe from the virus.
Trump has been continually pushing states to reopen their schools and allow students to go back to in-person learning and has previously threatened international students that he would be barring their stay and entry into the US if they take online-only classes.
In an interview on Sunday, Trump told reporters he believes children should be going to school and that staying at home for extended periods result in other problems. The US president also shared that funding would be cut if schools choose not to reopen.
The Republican president also noted that it was unfortunate the country was hit by the deadly coronavirus that resulted in the nation's lockdown. Trump said the government's actions helped save millions of lives and that they are now ready to open up and go back to school.
New normal to education
The United States' second-largest public school system, the Los Angeles Unified School District, announced last week that all of its classes would be held online when they reopen in August, as reported by US News.
Governor of Colorado and Democrat, Jared Polis, went on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and told reporters that several school districts located within his state were steadily going back to usual with the added precautionary measures recommended by health experts and scientists.
Parkway District will announce its plans for reopening schools in the fall but will remain cautious and prepared to change decisions if the situation grows worse quickly, said Beckner. He also said if schools proceed to reopen this fall, it would be drastically different from how it was in February. Beckner said there would be more health and safety protocols that students, as well as staff, will be required to follow to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
Social distancing will be encouraged via signs and seats will be placed farther apart, and students and staff will be required to wear face masks at all times while inside the premises. In contrast, some teachers who have deaf students will be required to wear clear face shields to allow the students to understand their lessons.
