DAY 137

Last Friday we received notice that school will be resuming on August 19th. We are faced with two options - in classroom learning or a virtual platform. I have spent the last several days agonizing over the choices we have to make. Today I attended a two-hour question and answer Zoom meeting with the superintendent of Howell schools and about 400 other parents. We were asked ahead of time to submit any questions that we had so that they could be addressed in the meeting. I had plenty of questions but only submitted a couple.

Mr. McGregor started off by talking about the Michigan Safe Start phases of reopening. We are in phase four, which allows for in-person learning with a whole list of precautions that must be followed. He went on to say that he fully expects us to fluctuate between phases. If we slip back to phase three the schools will close again. If a classmate or teacher becomes ill the whole class will have to quarantine. They will enforce social distancing as feasible. I have seen how feasible it is to expect kids to social distance. Not likely. The kids cannot share school supplies such as pencils, scissors, etc. Also seems unlikely.

They don't even have a clear idea of what the beginning of the school year will look like. They will possibly be restructuring the first week of school with a gradual start, maybe four days a week until mid-September. They sure aren't making it easy to plan for anything. Whichever path we choose, we are expected to commit to it for the first semester. Who knows what January will bring?

All I can see is the clear potential for more disruption of the learning process for these kids. And, although the virtual platform is much better than it was in the spring, I don't feel that it is the kind of learning experience that I want for Miss Ten. We have until noon on Monday, August 3rd to sign up for the virtual platform if that is our choice. No pressure there. I watch the number of cases rising every day. Things could look very different by August 19th, for better or worse.

All of the parents that I have talked to are planning to send their kids into the classroom, even though  they admit that they fully expect school to close again at some point. These are parents who have to go to work so it's daycare or school. I would choose the classroom too if I was in that position. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I do not have to go to work. This leaves me to carefully weigh all of the options and make the best decision I can for our family.

It all sucks. All of it.