EUREKA — Parents upset about school district reopening plans launched petitions and protested at board meetings this week, mostly calling for more days of in-person instruction.
Most districts in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region are offering in-person or virtual options when school starts next month, anticipating a continued rise in COVID-19 cases. Four area districts decided that all students will start the school year fully online — Cahokia, Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood and Ritenour. A few others are undecided, with Clayton leaders indicating they will likely open virtually.
More than 1,200 people have signed a petition calling for in-person instruction five days a week in Rockwood schools. The district in west ºüÀêÊÓƵ County plans to start school Aug. 24 with the choice of full-time virtual class, or a hybrid model in which students are divided in two groups that alternate in classrooms for two days and home for two days, with everyone receiving virtual instruction on the fifth day.
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Dozens of parents gathered outside the Rockwood School Board meeting Thursday, with most opposed to the plan and calling for an option of five days in classrooms. The hybrid plan “exhibits a complete disregard of, and zero empathy for the obvious and immense financial hardship that it will inflict upon the working families of the Rockwood School District,†reads the petition.
Chris Heerdegen of Chesterfield said he and his wife are now considering private schools for their six children.
“What are we going to do with my child with Down syndrome, who can’t do virtual learning?†Heerdegen said after speaking Thursday at the board meeting. “Both my wife and I work. We don’t have a way to pay for in-home care. Our kids are going to fall behind other kids who are in other districts five days a week.â€
Heerdegen and other parents said they were caught off guard by the district’s plan because 74% of parents said they planned to send their kids to school in a June survey. They also questioned the district’s plan to provide day care at the schools for a fee on days students are not in classrooms.
Some parents in the district said they also would prefer five days a week but support the reopening plan, particularly since COVID-19 trends have only worsened since the survey was taken.
“The district has put out a great plan on how to do different levels and be flexible,†said Kary Bachert, whose children attend middle and high schools in Rockwood. “They’re never going to make everyone happy, no matter what decision they make.â€
The reopening plans have divided parents who want full-time schooling, and teachers who have pushed for virtual learning. Teachers’ unions in at least six districts have formally called for distance learning at the start of school — Clayton, Francis Howell, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens and Webster Groves.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Executive Sam Page recommends parents choose full-time, virtual options and has warned that he could bar schools from opening buildings at all if virus numbers don’t improve in the next few weeks.
Parkway and Pattonville district leaders have said they will offer hybrid schedules similar to Rockwood’s, with students attending two days in school buildings to reduce class sizes.
Students in prekindergarten through sixth grade in Maplewood-Richmond Heights have the option to attend five days a week, while middle and high school students can attend two days on alternating schedules. They could also choose a fully virtual learning program.
At a work session Thursday, Maplewood-Richmond Heights School Board members and administrators discussed the importance of keeping class sizes small.
“One of the things we heard very early on was stable cohorts of children,†said Roxanna Mechem, assistant superintendent. “If you can keep small groups of children that only have interaction with each other, you could limit the spread of infection and you could allow contact tracing.â€
Other districts, including Bayless and Mehlville in south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, have yet to announce plans because of the recent spike in coronavirus cases, particularly among children and teenagers. About 25 cases in the under-19 age group have been reported in the county each day in the last week, Page said.