By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City School parents want to be heard – face to face – by the Board of Education.
Since the coronavirus hit in March, school board meetings have been held virtually – like school classes – leaving no possibility of parents making their pitch in person for students to return to their school buildings.
“Anyone ought to have a right to go to a board meeting and express themselves,” said Jessica Swaisgood, founder and spokesperson for the parent group called BG VOICE. “It’s disappointing that this has to be pointed out as important.”
The parents want their children back in the classrooms, and they want to converse with the board in person – not through email, she said.
“I think that would be a great step,” Swaisgood said. “I think parents deserve to be heard.”
And they deserve to be heard soon, she added.
“The more we put off these conversations – every day we wait is too long,” she said.
Swaisgood said she has been disappointed that the school board seems more interested in explaining why students can’t return to school than in finding ways to make in-person learning possible.
“It’s always more excuses to push back this deadline,” she said. “I don’t feel they have any intention of going back to school.”
Board President Ginny Stewart said Tuesday that the board of education is studying ways to get students back into school buildings.
“We’re looking at all options,” she said.
Stewart said there are no immediate plans for an in-person board meeting.
“We are not planning to have an open meeting in November,” she said.
However, the state is requiring school boards to hold in-person meetings in December, so Bowling Green’s board will be making plans for that meeting, Stewart said.
As of Monday, 965 parents and community members had signed a petition coordinated by BG VOICE. Following is the petition:
“On July 21, 2020 Bowling Green City School (BGCS) Board voted 4-1 to begin the school year in an all virtual format and pushed the start of the school year off until September 8, 2020 with the promise to re-evaluate that decision on October 8, 2020. During that Special Meeting, the Board again voted 3-2 to continue the 2020-2021 school in an all virtual format with no plan to re-evaluate or move forward, citing BGSU and their rising COVID-19 cases as the reason, despite research and data showing little to no correlation of COVID-19 spread in school systems locally and throughout the nation.
“The decision of the BGCS Board is creating irreparable damage to the district’s children and their families – academically, socially, emotionally, and financially. In coming to their decision, the BGCS Board neglected to seek community input, despite many parents, guardians, and teachers expressing their frustration in not having a voice through email. They offered no choices to families other than two virtual programs – NOVA and “Click-to-Brick,” unfairly suggesting that there was hope to resume in-person classes at the date of re-evaluation. Further, there is currently no public outlet to express public opinion.
“Please consider signing this petition if you are a citizen within the BGCS district or have a child attending BGCS and feel parents, guardians, and community members should have a choice in the way their students should be receiving their education. Please support the academic and emotional needs of our children and sign to bring our kids back to the classroom.”
The BG VOICE group has expressed disappointment that the parent survey conducted in the spring seemed to have no bearing on the board’s decision on how to return to school in the fall.
Superintendent Francis Scruci has explained that the survey was for school planning purposes, and was not intended to be an election for in-person or virtual classes.
If the school board makes a decision for students to return to in-person classes, a new survey will be needed to gauge parents’ preferences, Scruci said.
“We’re going to have to reach out to parents,” he said.
An updated survey would be helpful, Swaisgood said. However, she is opposed to a survey if it delays the return of students to school.
“We need a plan. We need leadership,” she said.
Scruci said there are no easy fixes, no quick solutions to providing in-person learning while maintaining precautions against COVID-19.
“There are dominoes with everything,” he said.
But if the board decides students should return to school, the district will do its best, Scruci said.
“We’ll make anything work,” he said.
