Patch Survey: Most In CT Anxious For Kids To Return In-School

CONNECTICUT — If remote learning remains an option for your children in the fall — even after schools reopen completely — would you take it?

That was the question Patch put to readers last week after Gov. Ned Lamont indicated the likelihood of districts continuing to offer an in-home curriculum along with the traditional schoolhouse experience come September.

Currently, the number of students attending school full-time, remotely and as part of a hybrid attendance model is just about evenly split among those who responded to the informal and unscientific survey.

Over 56 percent of the 1,478 readers who responded said they would "definitely" be sending their children to school full-time in the fall given that option.

It was clear by the comments of many that September couldn't arrive fast enough:

"Let's get off of it already! Enough is enough! Go back to school and work! These kids need to be in school full time! This is ridiculous!"

"...Another reason to push for in-person learning is to minimize screen time - prior to COVID, pediatricians recommended limiting screen time for health, mental and developmental reasons - apparently or miraculously, COVID eliminated the negative impact of too much screen time... Or was it just ignored?"

At least one teacher weighed in, pining for a return to normalcy:

"I cannot believe we are even considering that students will not be back in school full time in the fall. Kids need to be back at school full time... I teach high school and most of the kids who are not back at school are playing sports, working jobs, etc... They are taking advantage of the option to not attend school. There is very low transmission in schools. It is the safest place they can be quite frankly and the kids who are coming to school are not getting the teachers' full attention because teachers have to teach the kids online at the same time..."

Among those parents who are leaning away from sending their children back to school this year, the unlikelihood of achieving herd immunity by the fall was a heavy consideration:

Its not just cleaning, it’s breathing, laughing, coughing, no herd immunity yet, or for a long while.

Others resisting sending their children back to school full-time made it clear their decision hinged upon whether everyone in their class had been vaccinated before school started:

I want to answer that it will probably be safe but to be honest, opening up restaurants, etc so early before majority of people are vaccinated will probably end up causing more issues. Plus there are so many people who just don't care about wearing masks and socially distancing. So, I will have to see how the numbers look before I would decide."

For many in this "wait and see" group, the new coronavirus variants are a boogeyman about which not enough is known. The survey was taken before the new strains began popping up in earnest around the state, and it's likely there would be a larger percentage of the respondents in this category if the poll was taken today.

"The virus is not going away anytime soon. There are other variants coming out that will spread quicker and easier than COVID-19. I think we need another year to make sure the spread is minimal."

U.S. Education Secretary (and former Connecticut Commissioner of Education) Miguel Cardona told NBC News last week that the students were never the issue when he was wrestling with school closures last year:

"My experience was when schools had to close, it wasn't because COVID spread within the schools. It was because we had to quarantine educators. We had to quarantine teachers," Cardona said.

In the schools, as in the parking lot of your local Stop & Shop, masks continue to be a tipping point:

"Depends on mask mandates I don’t think it’s safe or comfortable to keep kids in masks 8+ hours a day."

"Only if NO MASKS will my child go back."

According to the state Department of Public Health, the number of coronavirus cases reported in the schools has started to climb slightly after a steep drop-off that began in mid-January, while staff infection seem to have levelled off:

Based on these trends, an additional 50 schools have ramped up to full in-person learning last week — a 23 percent improvement. But some Patch parents said their own experience has been at odds with what DPH has been reporting:

"I find it hard to trust the number of cases being reported in the school system. If it’s possible to have the virus with no symptoms and we never test students or staff, how do we actually know how many cases are in the school? People are out sick and people are in quarantine without being tested so the numbers can’t possibly be accurate."

"Schools are not in compliance with CDC safety protocols. I have experienced it first hand as I am a teacher in Waterbury. My daughter goes to school in Shelton and they are still announcing positive cases in her school."

A common theme for the parents who responded "No way!" was the underlying health conditions of their child or other household member that made their full-time return to school problematic.

But for some with no health issues at home, remote learning has been a revelation. They have become more engaged with the curriculum, and their children are performing better academically and socially. These parents may be statistical outliers, but it's clear that school districts will have some difficulty getting the genie back into the bottle:

"Remote learning is best for our family. No colds, snow days, no bullying and we always know what the kids are learning. This keeps the family connected. We love it."

"Our child finds that remote learning is FAR more productive for him than in school learning. He uses his time efficiently with great success and with less distractions and wasted down time in school. Our child still maintains friendships via social media, visits with those in our bubble and plays a team sport outside the home."

"Not afraid of Corona in the slightest but I am not okay with the liberal agenda embedded in the curriculum. By remote learning we can clearly hear and see what is being taught! Plus our kids are thriving with e-learning. E-learners should truly be able to have full participation in interscholastic sports, etc!"

For one parent, the existence of a stay-at-home option was, itself, suspect:

"If schools are supposedly safe and being pushed to open fully, why is parent choice still on the table? Illness I can understand. Parent choice just because you can, puts a strain on teachers who are already spread thin and overwhelmed with overwork. Either it is safe or it isn’t..."