By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Parents counting the days till they send their students back to school found out Monday that their unofficial home classroom contracts had been extended for another month – at least.
During his daily coronavirus briefing, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Ohio K-12 schools would be closed through May 1.
“This didn’t come as a shock to anybody,” Bowling Green City Schools Superintendent Francis Scruci said Tuesday. But it was unwelcome news.
“This virus has affected all of us,” Scruci said. “We would love to be in school, and I’m sure the parents would love for us to be in school.”
Everyone is stressed – the teachers, the parents, the students, the administrators.
“This shutdown has caused a great deal of stress because of the unknown,” Scruci wrote to parents. “There are more questions than answers. Our teachers are stressed trying to provide valid curriculum to our students. Parents are stressed because the burden of instruction is falling on their shoulders.”
This is all new. Students are accustomed to the structure of in-school learning. Teachers are accustomed to looking at students to see if they are grasping a lesson. And many parents are accustomed to offering occasional guidance at home.
But this is all different now. Parents who figured they could wing it through a couple closed weeks, are now faced with a much bigger role in their children’s educations.
“This is challenging for every parent” – whether they work outside the home or not, Scruci said.
And he is not hopeful that schools will be opening when the May 1 date hits.
“Personally, I’m not optimistic,” Scruci said. He realizes that some face-to-face contact between teachers and students would be helpful emotionally – “for kids to have closure to the school year.”
Meanwhile, teachers have frequent contact with their students online and teach lessons in virtual classrooms like Zoom. Parents can email teachers with questions or concerns. Administration members meet twice a week virtually, and Scruci emails parents twice a week to keep them up to date.
“We’re trying to keep open lines of communication,” Scruci said. “I’ve tried to be as transparent and communicative as I can with parents.”
Parents will soon receive information on how grading will be done for this extended period of time, what virtual class meetings will look like, and the types of project learning opportunities that may be available.
The district has sent more than 400 Chromebooks home with students who lacked computers.
“I think we’re about as connected as we can be,” Scruci said.
And the school district is continuing to provide food to students – with bus drivers delivering more than 1,300 meals last week to students’ homes.
“As this continues on, we’ll pick up more families” in need of food, Scruci predicted.
Scruci realizes some students will need to play catch up when the new school year convenes in the fall.
“Obviously we’re doing everything we can to keep them in the learning process,” he said. But there may need to be evaluations to see where students are in the fall.
State standardized testing has been canceled for the year – taking one stresser off of schools.
“It turned our worlds upside down,” Scruci said of the pandemic. “It’s out of our control.”
“This isn’t something they teach us in superintendent school. We’re navigating this day by day. There’s no blueprint on how to handle this.”
Older students are missing out on milestones – with the prom canceled, sports seasons left incomplete, and the spring musical still on hold.
“Kids are losing those experiences,” Scruci said.
Last week in his message to parents, the superintendent stressed that kids are resilient. He pointed to children who lived through Hurricane Katrina – who went on to become doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers.
“Even though those kids missed a portion of their school year,” he said. “Kids are going to make it.”
This week, Scruci’s message was directed to the parents, quoting from Emily W. King, PhD.
“Parents: What we are being asked to do is not humanly possible. There is a reason we are either a working parent, a stay-at-home parent, or a part-time working parent. Working, parenting, and teaching are three different jobs that cannot be done at the same time. It’s not hard because you are doing it wrong. It’s hard because it’s too much.”
Perfection isn’t the goal, the message continued.
“Do the best you can. When you have to pick, because at some point you will, choose connection. Pick playing a game over arguing about an academic assignment. Pick teaching your child to do laundry rather than feeling frustrated that they aren’t helping. Pick laughing, and snuggling, and reminding them that they are safe. If you are stressed, lower your expectations where you can and virtually reach out for social connection. We are in this together to stay well. That means mentally well, too.”
Amidst the reading, science, math and geography, Scruci stressed another lesson to not neglect.
“Take some time to love your kids,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the social-emotional needs of the kids.”
