US parents wary as kids return to class
Print Edition
Putting your child on the bus for the first day of school is always a leap of faith for a parent. Now, on top of the usual worries about youngsters adjusting to new teachers and classmates, there鈥檚 COVID-19.
Rachel Adamus was feeling those emotions on Monday morning as she got 7-year-old Paul ready for his first day of second grade and prepared 5-year-old Neva for the start of kindergarten.
With a new school year beginning this week in some US states, Adamus struggled to balance her fears with her belief that her children need the socialization and instruction that school provides, even as the US death toll from the coronavirus has hit about 155,000 and infections are rising.
As the bus pulled away from the curb in Adamus鈥 Dallas, Georgia, neighborhood, the tears finally began to fall.
鈥淲e have kept them protected for so long,鈥 said Adamus, who said her aunt died from COVID-19 in Alabama and her husband鈥檚 great-uncle succumbed to the virus in a New Jersey nursing home.
鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 been to restaurants. We only go to parks if no one else is there. We don鈥檛 take them to the grocery store. And now they鈥檙e going to be in the classroom with however many kids for an entire day with a teacher.鈥
The Adamus children are among tens of thousands across the nation who resumed in-person school on Monday for the first time since March. Parents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee are also among those navigating the new academic year this week.
Many schools that are resuming in-person instruction are also giving parents a stay-at-home virtual option. Adamus, like many other parents, decided against that.
Other schools are planning a hybrid approach, with youngsters alternating between in-person and online learning. But an uptick in COVID-19 cases in many states has prompted districts to scrap in-person classes at least for the start of the school year.
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have urged schools to reopen. But Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation鈥檚 top infectious-disease expert, warned: 鈥淭here may be some areas where the level of virus is so high that it would not be prudent to bring the children back to school.
鈥淪o you can鈥檛 make one statement about bringing children back to school in this country. It depends on where you are.鈥
In Indiana, where schools reopened last week, a student at Greenfield-Central Junior High tested positive on the first day back to class and was isolated in the school clinic.
鈥淭his really does not change our plans,鈥 School Superintendent Harold Olin said. 鈥淲e knew that we would have a positive case at some point. We simply did not think it would happen on Day One.鈥
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