Md parents surprised by Hogan’s announcement to safely reopen schools, 3 days before virtual start
BETHESDA, Md. - Even after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement to allow schools to safely reopen, local school systems say they have no plans to make any changes to their virtual starts to the academic year, at least not immediate.
Some parents in Montgomery County tell FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan, it was a bit odd that the governor unexpectedly made such an announcement late Thursday, just three days before virtual learning begins on Monday.
“I think all along we should have gone hybrid,” said Anjali Bhaskar who has three kids ages 14, 11 and 7.
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“I think it’s very difficult that kids will go a 100 percent virtual. It’s six hours of sitting in front of a screen and how much are they really going to be retaining of what they are listening to? I mean as adults we have issues.”
Becky Davidson, a mom of kids ages 8, 6 and 4 and former teacher said that she doesn’t feel comfortable sending her children back to school in person, at least not yet.
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“I just feel like it’s the kids’ health right now, after seeing how other school systems have opened and then close just within a couple of weeks, it just doesn’t seem like something like we should rush into,” said Davidson.
“Especially with the cold and flu season starting, I mean there is a huge worry about whether my kid has a cold or a flu or could they have contracted covid and I just don’t feel safe for their mental health knowing that my children do understand what’s going on even at a young age.”
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FOX 5 reached out to some of the major counties and school systems within Maryland but one would go on camera and instead we were sent written statements.
In response, a representative for Montogmery County Public Schools system said the following:
“We will remain in our virtual model through the first semester—or until state and local health officials determine conditions in our county to allow for students to return safely after the first semester. Working with Dr. Gayles and county elected officials, we will reassess at the end of the first quarter if we are able to implement a phased blended model in the second semester.”
A statement from Alvin Thorton, Chair of Prince George's County Board of Education said the following:
“At this time, we have no plans to change course in reopening PGCPS. The 2020-21 school year will start with distance learning as scheduled Monday, Aug. 31. We will work with the County Executive, local health officials and the CEO to assess when it is safe for our students and employees to resume in-person learning."
The Board of Education of Frederick County said:
“We will continue with our virtual learning model plans, including the implementation of small group in-person instruction for targeted groups of students.”
Montogmery County Health Officer, Dr. Travis Gayles said Thursday, that he cannot speak for the school system, but based on a message that they sent to parents, they may have been caught by surprise as well. He also said that the county’s health department asked the state’s department of health and the Governor for guidance in the beginning of August, and were promised guidance at that time.
They continued to ask over the month recognizing that schools would be attempting to re-open, and were provided some snippets of possible recommendations, but did not have access to a draft of any sort of a plan presented by the Governor until after the press conference.