42 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • AUGUST 2020
GRADE SCHOOL JITTERS ACADEMIC ANXIETY ABOUNDS
BY DANA CHIEUH
As local school districts get busy
developing reopening plans for the
upcoming school year, Long Island
parents, teachers, and students have
mixed emotions on the feasibility of
going back to school during a pandemic.
School administrators are asked to
come up with plans that incorporate
social distancing, mask-wearing recommendations,
frequent health screenings,
and more measures that prioritize
health and safety in accordance with
health department guidance. Gov. Andrew
Cuomo has said the plans will be
announced in early August. Yet many
stakeholders remain skeptical of the
idea of schools being able to stick to
their plans.
“Many kids have a hard time paying
mind to their actions when it pertains
to cleanliness and personal hygiene,”
said Nicole Cast, an educator and parent
from East Setauket.
Dora Zou, a rising sophomore at Ward
Melville High School in Setauket, said
she doesn’t believe schools reopening
“in the middle of a pandemic” will be
safe, considering the difficulty of enforcing
mask-wearing among students.
Even under normal circumstances,
diseases such as the common cold or flu
easily spread in a school environment,
and life in the time of COVID-19 is no
different, according to some parents.
Though school-age children may statistically
be less susceptible to deaths from
COVID-19, Cast urged administrators
to protect students battling chronic
conditions.
“This is a matter of life and death,” she
said. “If they want kids back in school
before a vaccine, they better darn well
have a tight plan. No kid is sitting next to
my child with asthma without a mask.”
“That’s one sneeze away from a disaster,”
she added.
Teachers are also raising concerns
about returning to an environment
that puts them at risk, with lackluster
support to enforce new guidelines.
“In all honesty, I can’t see how recommended
social distancing can take place
with 30 to 32 students in a classroom,”
said Mike Stencel, an English teacher at
New Hyde Park Memorial High School.
The school alone has more than 2,100
faculty, students, and staff.
New York State guidance encourages
schools to take advantage of existing
large spaces like gymnasiums and
auditoriums for socially distant
instruction, but in most schools, the
number of classes clearly outweighs
the number of large spaces available.
“We all want to go back to normalcy,”
he said. “We all want to return to the
profession we love. We all know that
education is important and needs to
commence in the traditional way...
but it is both illogical and unethical
to recklessly reopen schools without
adhering to or following the advice of
trained medical professionals.”
Stencel added that it is “irritating” to
see elected officials leave reopening
plans for school districts to figure out
without concrete solutions or ideas.
The State Department of Education
guidance released July 13 states that
due to the size and diversity of the
state “there will be no ‘one size fits
all’ model for reopening our schools.”
Instead, local education agencies can
submit reopening plans that incorporate
remote learning, in-person
instruction, or a combination of both.
Instead of reopening in-person instruction
prematurely, Cast hopes
schools will “prepare for a stronger,
more comprehensive plan to teach remotely,”
citing the number of students
who had a negative experience with
distance learning in the latter half of
the 2019-2020 academic year.
Rather than risk their children’s health
in a group education setting, some
families are turning to homeschool or
private teaching options. A representative
for Central Park Tutors, a private
tutoring agency with operations in
the East End, confirmed that the firm
had seen unprecedented interest in its
homeschooling services for Fall 2020.
Schools reopening affect more than
students, teachers, and staff. While
acknowledging her “selfish” excitement
to see her friends again, Zou
emphasized the threat of asymptomatic
teachers and students bringing the
virus home to their loved ones.
“There could be students carrying
pathogens without knowing it that
could easily be transmitted to more
vulnerable people,” she said. “Many
people live with their grandparents,
and with large gatherings of people
happening again and many interactions,
I’m really worried for the older
people.”
“The real question is, ‘Should someone’s
life be put at stake for others’ inconveniences?’”
Cast concluded.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Parents, teachers, and students remain concerned about how safe school will be this fall. (Getty Images)
“This is a matter of life and death,” said Nicole Cast.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
