Survey Results: How Virginia Schools Are Doing In New School Year

VIRGINIA — At least two weeks of learning are in the books for school districts and other schools in Virginia, whether it be through virtual or in-person means. This week, we asked readers in an informal survey what they thought of schooling so far, and there were mixed perceptions.

We received over 250 responses between mid-day on Monday, Sept. 11 and mid-day on Friday, Sept. 18. We asked readers for their school district and hometown, or private school if their student attended one. Many of our respondents indicated their schools were in Northern Virginia, although we also had responses from Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, and other parts of the state. Given that many of the respondents were from Northern Virginia school districts, 92.4 percent of respondents said their students are attending virtual-only, distance learning in the new school year. There were 3.6 percent who said their students have in-person learning, and 3.2 percent said their students have a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning.

When asked about how happy readers are with how their district is handling learning, 45.8 percent said very unhappy, 21.5 percent said very happy, 16.7 percent said somewhat happy, 13.1 percent said somewhat unhappy, and 2.8 percent were unsure.

But the distance learning option wasn't the top option families preferred in our survey. If given a choice, 56.8 percent would have preferred in-person learning, 23.5 percent would want distance learning, and 17.9 percent would want a hybrid of in-person and distance learning.

The survey also asked about the impacts on child care, as some working parents may not have the option to work remotely during the pandemic. There were 47.8 percent who said their school district's reopening decision affected their child care needs, 36.7 percent said it did not, and 15.5 percent said "somewhat."

Lastly, readers could provide voluntary comments, giving us more insight into their satisfaction with their school district or school. Below are a few highlighted comments.

• Distance learning is much better than last spring, however, with a special needs child he needs more in person opportunities. Being on a computer all day is not a good way to learn. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• My children are doing well. They have excellent, organized, helpful teachers. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• 4 days a week and remote learning is ludicrous and all taxpayers should be livid. The school district should have been thinking outside the box. With as many empty buildings and many educated unemployed individuals, all kids should be safely catching up on last year’s misses in person. (Arlington County Public Schools)
• I'm not happy with the inconsistency of the learning. Some teachers are on less than a half an hour while others are using the full time. Both of my high schoolers have a lot of downtime during the day, for example they will go online for 20 minutes and then just sit around for an hour before the next class starts. (Prince William County Public Schools)
• My Kindergartener is doing much better than expected with online learning. With the circumstances, the teachers are doing excellent job. (Alexandria City Public Schools)
• Our son has severe special needs; even though IEP’s have been changed for distance learning our child does not fit in this new platform anymore and only a select few of special needs children are supposed to go back in person in October. Superintendent Williams does not lead LCPS well and both teachers and parents feel not supported whatsoever! (Loudoun County Public Schools)
• My child does not feel that online learning is covering as much content as in-person and is having trouble concentrating for a full day of online classes. Teachers ability to teach online varies wildly. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• The district is fully online. However my children attend a private school that offers in person, hybrid and virtual learning. So far so good! (Evangel Christian School, Dale City)
• With what they had to deal with I think they are doing a wonderful job. (Spotsylvania County Public Schools)
• I have a son who is autistic, and learning via a screen is not working at all. I am physically exhausted from just trying to keep him in the same room, and I am neglecting his brother's schooling needs. (Manassas City Public Schools)
• Manassas City was very well-prepared. They said they would not have children in-person if the numbers from the pandemic were not getting lower. They stayed true to their word and had made plans for educating the children. We were always kept informed. Providing a 24-hour window for attendance is one of the ways MCPS have been thoughtful and considerate. (Manassas City Public Schools)
• Everything is going surprisingly well! Teachers have been brilliant adjusting to the new norm and guiding kids in their learning. Springwoods Elementary has done a fantastic job. (Prince William County Public Schools)
• In this terrible scenario, FCPS really stepped it up this fall; a complete turn around from the spring. Early planning had made for a dreamless transition. Would I rather my kids be in school? Of course! But given our situation, they are really handling it well. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• We were very nervous about our kindergartener doing virtual learning, but his teacher is incredible and so far, it is going better than we expected. The days are longer than we would prefer him in front of a computer, but they are doing a good job scheduling breaks and time away from the computer screen. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• The teachers are amazing and really working within the confines they have been given. It’s not perfect but they are striving to meet the needs of our children. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• Kindergarten doing virtual. The teacher is doing her best but over the course of a day barely anything is accomplished between telling kids to mute their mics and to stop asking irrelevant questions or making random statements. Virtual just doesn’t work for that age level. (Fairfax County Public Schools)
• My kids are not getting a quality education right now. I fear that they are behind other children in the country. We are looking into private school options and homeschooling programs. (Prince William County Public Schools)
• It is positively shameful. My 5-year-old should not be on a computer all day. Every day, I wake up disgusted at FCPS leadership. (Fairfax County Public Schools)

The informal survey is not a scientific assessment but rather a look at Patch reader sentiment. If you'd like to speak with a Patch reporter or provide a tip, email your local editor or virginia@patch.com.