It’s official: Ohio students K-12 will finish out their academic school year at home.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in his daily COVID-19 press briefing that after discussing the topic with teachers, legislators, the Ohio superintendent and more, it has been decided that students will continue to go to school remotely and will not return to physical school buildings this year.
In listing the reasons for his decision, DeWine said that the virus remains dangerous despite the state flattening the curve. He also mentioned continuity.
“One of the things that (has) been expressed to me by teachers as well as superintendents is continuity. And to go back to school now, with a relatively small amount of time left…that is probably not a good idea even if the health situation was resolved, which obviously it is not,” he said.
He also noted the issues involved with students returning in groups to a physical building.
“Not only do we have to be concerned about the risk to students, but also obviously teachers and ultimately the risk to the community,” DeWine said.
He said that although the fatality rate among children is exceedingly low — unless they have an underlying medical problem — they can be carriers. If they can attend school and have contact with others who are doing the same, they can bring COVID-19 into their own families and households and spread the disease.
DeWine said no decisions have been made about the fall school year yet, but it is possible there could be a blended system with in-person and remote learning.
There is the possibility that we will have a blended system this fall — some distance learning as well as some in-person learning. That’s just a possibility and each school district is different.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 20, 2020
He also mentioned specific student populations he does worry about as they try to plan ahead for an educational system while COVID-19 is still out there.
➡Children with special developmental needs
➡Children w/ health challenges: We must figure out how to protect kids with unique health challenges.
➡Kids with no or limited access to the internet
➡Children who do not have a supportive home lives.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 20, 2020
DeWine also said schools will need to be innovative about the ways they commemorate and honor milestones like senior graduation, prom and different sporting events.
“Just as schools have been innovative about how to teach from a distance, I know that they’re going to be innovative as they look at how they try to, in some way, honor the students and, in some way, compensate the students for what they are missing. But it certainly is not going to be easy and it’s a real, real shame. I can’t express how sorry I am about that,” DeWine said. “I know how much many of these activities — all of these activities — mean to young people.”
Cincinnati Public Schools has issued its own statement regarding the continued closure.
“We are so grateful for our incredible CPS family,” said Superintendent Laura Mitchell in a release. “The level of creativity, flexibility, and commitment over these last several weeks are unparalleled. However, we also want to acknowledge how much we miss our students and families right now. It’s hard to imagine that we won’t be able to see our CPS kids the rest of the year. And this is an especially difficult time for our seniors, who should be celebrating rites of passage, such as prom and graduation with their friends, extended family, and schools.”
CPS will continue to offer its remote learning plan at remotelearning.cps-k12.org, and age-specific lessons will begin broadcasting this week starting at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday on CPS TV (Cincinnati Bell channel 804 and Spectrum channel 15). CPS will also continue to provide breakfast and lunch at its meal hubs.
This article appears in Apr 15 – May 5, 2020.
