Sunday, August 30th, 2020
Like Roller Coasters? Welcome to the school year that is 2020-21. Except the joy and excitement of a roller coaster ride will not be present. Your school district will open in person. Nope. Your school district will open as a hybrid. Nope. Your school district will be operating entirely virtual for the first week or two. Nope. Your school district will be operating for the first four weeks virtually. Probably. Confused? Join the club.
Ok, maybe your children are heading back off to college. You help them pack, drive them to school and drop them off. Several days later the call comes that due to the outbreak of cases, classes will now be virtual. Your student is welcome to stay in the dorm but there will be no refunds for tuition for the diminished experience. Food, well they don’t need to eat. The colleges indicate that their costs are the same. Last time I checked the University of Phoenix didn’t cost as much as the University of North Carolina.
Look, none of this is anyone’s fault but without a 50 state policy back in April, this was inevitable. For weeks now the transmission of the virus in New York has been under one percent. What if every state had followed New York’s lead? The picture for returning to school would look much different.
In Part One, I touched on every stakeholder for whom this mess touches. I realized I should have spent more time with the one that matters the most – the students. I had a chance to spend some time with a seventh grader. Just for a moment, put all the issues that confront you and close your eyes. Imagine what this Pandemic must be like for a 12 year old. Old enough to know their world is not right. Young enough to not understand the broader implications.
I sat and talked with the young boy. I tried to just listen. Hard for me. He had plenty to say. How was it when your school went virtual last spring? “It was ok. It was nice to have my dog with me.” What were classes like? How long could you last looking at a computer? “They sent my homework home.” Nothing online? “Nope.” Funny the way everyone was talking I thought everyone was online.
Later on, his school did try some virtual classes. How did it go? “There was always someone messing it up. So the teacher would start but not everyone was used to it.” Did you miss your friends? “Yes.” How about being on the bus? “I miss my friends, but the bus takes almost an hour. When my mother drives it takes ten minutes.” Hey, how did you do, I mean, your grades? “I Passed.” No I mean what were your grades? “It was pass or fail. I passed.” Oh, boy.
What about sports? “There aren’t going to be any.” Will you miss them? “Kind of. I miss playing with my friends. Hey Mister (me), when is this going to end? A couple more weeks? “
It was at that point that I realized that as the head of a not-for-profit, an honest broker that tells people the reality of what they are facing, I could not do that with a 12 year old. No roller coaster story. So I just answered, “don’t know.”
