Parents And Students Weigh In On The Arizona School Reopening Debate
Download mp3 (6.22 MB)
As parents, Stephen Kessler and Gladys Martin know that the best place for their kids to learn is in the classroom, but as physicians, they don’t think their elementary schoolers should return to the classroom just yet.
“The current risk to our students and our teachers and our community at large from sending our children back to school, we think, is dangerous and it’s ill-advised," he said.
The Phoenix couple co-wrote a letter asking Gov. Doug Ducey to keep Arizona schools closed through the first quarter of the upcoming school year and to allow distance learning to be funded at the same level as in-person education. Their requests are similar to another letter written by Arizona school board members, which they are also in support of. About 90 physicians and health care providers have signed the letter as of Tuesday.
“We felt it was very important to state that the health of the students, staff and community should be first and foremost concern and that educators’ hands should not be tied by funding concerns in deciding whether or not it was safe to reopen schools," Kessler said.
Aug. 17 is the earliest that schools can start in-person learning under a June executive order by Gov. Doug Ducey, but many educators have been calling on him to further delay that date until health experts determine that it's safe to do so.
At a Thursday press conference, Ducey said his "aspirational" reopening date is being re-evaluated. But he and Arizona Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ seemed to express support for school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Arizona will be open for learning," Ducey said. "That’s what’s in front of us in the coming school year.”
Christ added that she and her husband are both personally comfortable sending their own three kids back.
"We know based on the information that we have right now that kids are at low risk for transmission and for outcomes," Christ said. "I have noticed other detrimental impacts from my kids not being in school and I really would like them to be back in that social environment.”
Tempe mother and mental health therapist Amy Burnside is also seeing school closures negatively impacting some of her teen clients. She said she’s seen an increase in anxiety, depression and loneliness among some of them.
“So I worry about the more we do virtual, the more isolated these kids are going to feel," she said. "So I think that as scary as this virus is, it is also very important that we speak about the mental wellness of all types of kids.”
Lori Bastian, a Tempe mother of three high school teens, agrees. She wants her sons to return to school for the the social and emotional benefits and the learning environment.
“I’d like them to get back to some sense of normalcy — although I understand it’s going to look very, very different," she said. "One of mine for sure needs the in-person model because he’s just not going to do as well online," Bastian said.
But for Catalina Foothills High School students Braden Cantor-Goldner, Mallika Sunder and Bella Wexler, the reopening debate isn’t just about students’ health and educational needs. It’s also about teachers’ safety. They started an online petition urging their Tucson-area district to protect teachers after learning about its in-person orientation for new educators.
“We just think teachers should also have an option to be able to go online and do their jobs just like the students have," Canto-Goldner said.
The district says it's planning to keep teachers at the orientation socially distanced and in small groups. It will offer in-person and remote teaching opportunities, but the number of positions will depend on what learning modalities students and their families choose.
All three students are choosing to start the school year with the online format.
“I’m upset that of course I can’t go to school and see my friends and do all my extracurricular activities in person, but I’ve learned that I have to adapt and I have to think about the good of the entire community and I think that’s something we all need to take into perspective," Sunder, an incoming sophomore said.
Wexler, an incoming senior, is applying to colleges this year and she realizes that she may face some challenges by not having in-person support from her counselors.
"But none of the concerns that I had have stand up against the fact that for the sake of public health, for the sake of my family's safety and those around, there's no way I would have chosen in-person at this point," Wexler said.
Aside from safety, the students also see other positive aspects of distance learning. They say they'll have more time to spend with family, develop new hobbies and skills and taking other virtual classes outside of school.
Tempe mother Lori Bastian says she understands the safety concerns, but she also thinks families should have options.
“I think the important thing is, instead of trying to divide our community into a return/don’t return situation, that we try to unify and come up with options to help all of our students, not just some of them," she said.
But some Arizona districts have already announced that their schools will stay closed as late as October, and students will start the school year with distance learning instead. Ducey is expected to announce this week whether he will extend his statewide school reopening delay or keep to his mid-August target date.
