FL Patch Survey: Too Soon To Send Kids Back To School

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Patch readers overwhelmingly said in an informal survey that it is too soon to send kids back to Florida classrooms.

Asked if Florida schools could safely open, 64.8 percent of 733 respondents said it’s still too soon for schools to do so safely. Only 28.7 percent of respondents said they believe schools can safely reopen.

Some 54.3 percent of people would prefer to see school reopen with remote learning at first. Only 21.9 percent said they preferred to see schools open with in-class learning combined with social distancing and mask wearing.

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Another 19.3 percent of respondents wanted to see a mix of remote learning and in-class learning.

But 54.3 percent of people said it was not realistic to expect school-age children to wear masks in a school setting. Only 22.9 percent of respondents said it would be realistic for all children to wear masks. Another 19.6 percent said it would be realistic to expect older children only to wear masks.

Of 665 respondents who said they had school age children, 53.4 percent said they will keep their kids home until they are confident it is safe to send them into classrooms.

Another 30 percent said they will send their children back to classrooms because they believe it is safe enough to risk it.

Patch tried to gauge how fearful parents were about sending their children into classrooms though some readers objected to the wording of the question.

Out of 676 people who answered, 35.1 percent said they were very afraid and wouldn’t send their children into classrooms if given a choice.

Some 30.7 percent of respondents said they are so afraid they plan to home school their children or make other arrangements if classrooms reopen.

Only 19.8 percent of people said they were not at all afraid and trust schools to take proper precautions

Some 10 percent of people said they were slightly afraid of sending their kids back to school. Eight percent said they were afraid but it wouldn’t stop them from sending their kids to school.

What Readers Had To Say

We allowed people to share additional thoughts with us and we received more than 230 comments from people who took our survey between July 1 and July 6.

“There must be protection for all students as well as teachers,” urged one respondent.

“Delayed opening or virtual opening for first nine weeks and reassess at that time,” wrote another.

“Masks need to be mandatory — not optional as they are planning to do,” said one person.

“We should not close schools until there is a vaccination,” said another. “The purpose in closing last spring was to flatten the curve. We accomplished that objective. We need to be looking at the amount of ICU admissions and deaths not the number of cases. For individuals who have a health condition we should provide remote learning options with classes being recorded.”

Another person said their answers might change based on the spread of the virus.

“If there is just one case in a large high school, the contact tracing would be a nightmare,” offered another person. “Will the schools quarantine its students for 14 days at a time for every new case?”

One person asked: “Why put our children at risk?”

Another person said they had “direct knowledge” their son’s school did not do any cleaning before teachers were allowed to remove items from classrooms.

“This is fueling the decision to keep him out of school,” that person explained. “If they could not clean up in two months, I cannot expect them to clean overnight according to CDC guidelines. This is one school. I am sure there are more.”

Several people questioned the need for any precautions at all. “Kids should return without mask and all these ridiculous guidelines,” one person penned. “We have over a 99.5 percent full recovery rate with this virus. This is all totally blown out of proportion.”

Still another person called it “insane” to even consider reopening schools. “The reopening should solely be based on the numbers and whether they are declining,” that person said.

“I'm concerned about teacher safety,” wrote another person. “Think about a kindergarten teacher who gets sneezed and coughed and spit on all day, and handles all kinds of supplies. The lives and health of teachers, staff and students are more important than socialization. Learning can take place effectively online. This is the only true safe way to do it during a pandemic.”

Multiple people criticized the survey questions. “Why isn't there an option to return to school, without a mask or social distancing,” asked on person.

Still another person noted while children are not affected by the virus in large numbers, they still could be carriers. “How long do children wear masks at Halloween? How much can we expect teachers to do? We must use logic since common sense seems to be seriously lacking,” that person said.

One person said they work in a school with 2,600 students. “I also have a high school student who never wants to wear a mask when going out. So he stays home a lot. How are we going to enforce that safety measure? Also, they say kids under 18 don’t need masks but they are not the most sanitary and don’t follow the rules so they would be the ones to spread the virus. It’s a mess.”

One respondent said their daughter is susceptible to illness. “I would like the teachers to continue teaching her through virtual schooling due to having a low immune system,” that person said.

One person asked whether politicians planned to send their kids back to school. Another noted some parents must work and are unable to care for their children at home. “I would open schools for those parents which would free up space in classrooms to safely seat the children apart,” they said. “Fewer children will make it easier on the teachers to be able to control and watch that they are doing what is needed. Masks, frequent hand washing, social distancing.”

Another person said they were concerned about protecting the thousands of adults who work in schools.

“My youngest has severe respiratory problems and my oldest is allergic to almost all antibiotics, also allergic to most allergy meds and even Ibuprofen," wrote one respondent.

A retired teacher said children as young as kindergarten can be educated by their parents to wear masks. “As a retired kindergarten teacher of 31 years in Philadelphia and 12 years in Florida plus six years subbing in prekindergarten to eighth grade, it can be done,” the teacher said.

Another person questioned whether special considerations would be made for workers who are immunocompromised or those who have immunocompromised family members at home.

“My grandchild came home from school in February with a bad cold and everyone got severely sick in my home,” wrote a grandparent whose immune system was compromised by chemotherapy. “We will not take the chance of children bringing it back home to anyone.”

Another person said fear was depriving children of their childhoods. “The fear that is being taught to children and the deprivation of a normal social life is cruel and appalling,” they said.