6 DECEMBER 10, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Parents blast Ridgewood school for lack of inperson
teaching of blended learning classes
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
About a dozen parents gathered in
front of P.S. 71 Forest Elementary
School in protest of what they
say is lackluster in-person instruction
on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
For the second day in a row, several
parents held signs outside of the school —
located at 62-85 Forest Ave. in Ridgewood
— and called Principal Indiana Soto to get
teachers inside of the classroom while
their kids are in school. Parents said that
while their kids are there three days out
of the week for blended learning, teachers
are not.
Halina Kosiorowska, a mother of a
third-grade student at P.S. 71, said teachers
are “basically teaching from home”
while their kids are in the building since
October.
“It’s called an in-person program, but
when the children go to school, they sit in
front of laptops and there is no in-person
instruction,” said Kosiorowska, adding
that there is one school staff member in
the classroom monitoring them. “They
spend, basically, three to four hours in
front of the iPad in a school building.
It’s a program that’s remote in a school
building. Some parents don’t even realize
that.”
Public school students and their
families got to choose between fully
remote learning or blended learning as
students returned to classrooms for the
2020-21 academic school year. Blended
learning is a combination of in-person
instruction at school for some days of the
week, and remote instruction at home on
the remaining days.
There are roughly 335,000 students
currently enrolled in blended learning,
as nearly 35,000 students decided on the
model during the Department of Education’s
(DOE) opt-in period in November.
Kosiorowska said they’re only with
teachers or a school staff member when
they are at lunch or gym (which she
added she applauds the school for off ering
to their kids).
Another parent of a third-grade
Parents of students at P.S. 71 Forest Elementary in Queens protest the lack of instruction because of in-class
Zoom learning. Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
student, who asked to remain anonymous,
said teachers are mainly communicating
with students through Zoom.
“We don’t understand,” the parent
said. “Yesterday, aft er our protest, was
the fi rst day my daughter was writing
since March. Can you imagine? Basically,
they don’t use pencils.”
The parent also said they spoke on
Monday with Principal Soto, who told
them they don’t have enough teachers
to be in the classroom.
“But other schools — on Metropolitan
Avenue, in Maspeth and Middle Village
— the kids don’t use computers in school,”
the parent said. “If other schools can do
it, this school can do it.”
Kosiorowska asked why there’s
a shortage of teachers for in-person
instruction, being that half of their
student body is in blended learning and
the other half is in remote learning. P.S.
71 currently has 634 students.
“How come we don’t have teachers? If
we had enough teachers
to teach 600 students, why
don’t we have enough
to teach 300?” said
Kosiorowska.
One parent said P.S.
71 has “the best” teachers,
but they want to see
their kids have less time
in front of a computer,
as they worry it’s not
healthy.
“Where is the writing?
Where is the reading
books?” another parent at
the protest said. “We understand
it’s a pandemic
but … they go to school to wear headphones
and look at the computer from
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.”
The DOE maintains schools are offering
students rich courses using both
in-person and remote methods, and may
continue to make adjustments over the
winter as their staffi ng levels increase.
They emphasize that being in the school
building during a remote class, in the
presence of other students and amongst
school staff is benefi cial during these
unprecedented times.
“Our number one priority for students
returning to school buildings is to give
them a safe space to learn among their
peers, and that is what the students at
P.S. 71 have,” said DOE spokesperson
Danielle Filson. “These blended learning
students receive in-person instruction
and rigorous, interactive live instruction
throughout the day. Principal Soto has
been meeting with this small group of
parents, and is working closely with
them to address their concerns.”
In October, parents at P.S. 128 in
Middle Village also protested over a
lack of instruction for their kids in the
blended learning model. Some parents
there said that aft er voicing their concerns,
they saw an improvement in their
instruction.
The city reopened 850 public schools
on Monday, Dec. 7, aft er closing them for
two weeks prior due to the city’s COVID-
19 positivity rate reaching 3 percent.
Approximately 190,000 students in 3-K,
Pre-K, and elementary school who are
currently enrolled in blended learning,
returned to buildings for in-person
classes.
Parents at P.S. 71 were planning to
return on Wednesday, Dec. 9, to make
sure their message comes across.
“We’re hopeful Ms. Soto will do
something,” said Kosiorowska.
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