Harford County may be the latest Maryland school system to take up the issue of when to allow students back for in-person learning.|| Coronavirus updates | Maryland’s latest numbers | Where to get tested ||It’s on the board’s agenda for Monday night, meantime, it remains an important topic for members of the State Board of Education, too. This conversation is taking place one day before the state board is set to take a closer look at local school system reopening plans.In recent weeks, the state Superintendent Karen Salmon has made a number of visits to school districts to get a close up look at their in-person learning. And now, it’s become evident that her Board of Education is also passionate about the need to bring students back to campus.“Our kids are really suffering, and I think they are falling behind and it’s all levels. It’s not just special ed, it’s regular kids, it’s gifted and talented kids who really need teacher instruction to get the higher-level AP class training,” said state school board member Rose Li.And she’s not the only one trying to make the case for local school boards to reopen buildings to students.“They learn from each other. It’s not just the teacher-student, they learn in concert with each other, so I think we need to try to get it open soon as we can, obviously safely,” state school board member Gail Bates said.Safety is what concerns at least one school board member already teaching from her classroom without students.“We can’t completely throw safety precautions out the window. Locals have not put all of those precautions into place. The logistics have not all been figured out yet. It’s not the same as taking your car full of kids to the movie theatre and staying there for an hour and coming home children are there all day,” state school board member Rachel McCusker said. But board member Jean Halle tends to agree, that one size will not fit all.“I do think that we have to realize even with some parents wanting to bring their children back to school and feeling that with social distancing, masks, etc, that some children families will still need to be at a distance,” Halle said.State board members will get a closer look at local school reopening plans at Tuesday’s meeting.
Harford County may be the latest Maryland school system to take up the issue of when to allow students back for in-person learning.
|| Coronavirus updates | Maryland’s latest numbers | Where to get tested ||
It’s on the board’s agenda for Monday night, meantime, it remains an important topic for members of the State Board of Education, too.
This conversation is taking place one day before the state board is set to take a closer look at local school system reopening plans.
In recent weeks, the state Superintendent Karen Salmon has made a number of visits to school districts to get a close up look at their in-person learning. And now, it’s become evident that her Board of Education is also passionate about the need to bring students back to campus.
“Our kids are really suffering, and I think they are falling behind and it’s all levels. It’s not just special ed, it’s regular kids, it’s gifted and talented kids who really need teacher instruction to get the higher-level AP class training,” said state school board member Rose Li.
And she’s not the only one trying to make the case for local school boards to reopen buildings to students.
“They learn from each other. It’s not just the teacher-student, they learn in concert with each other, so I think we need to try to get it open soon as we can, obviously safely,” state school board member Gail Bates said.
Safety is what concerns at least one school board member already teaching from her classroom without students.
“We can’t completely throw safety precautions out the window. Locals have not put all of those precautions into place. The logistics have not all been figured out yet. It’s not the same as taking your car full of kids to the movie theatre and staying there for an hour and coming home children are there all day,” state school board member Rachel McCusker said.
But board member Jean Halle tends to agree, that one size will not fit all.
“I do think that we have to realize even with some parents wanting to bring their children back to school and feeling that with social distancing, masks, etc, that some children families will still need to be at a distance,” Halle said.
State board members will get a closer look at local school reopening plans at Tuesday’s meeting.
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