Why Nashville parents, wary of sending students back to class, still worry about quality of remote learning
Meghan MangrumHeather Daugherty is the parent of a rising fifth grader and a tenth grader in Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Though both did an "adequate" job of learning at home this spring while schools were closed thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Daugherty said she thinks it would be a challenge for them to continue online this fall.
But like 40% of Metro Schools parents, she also has concerns about sending them back to campus.
"I think (my 10th grader) is able to take social-distancing seriously in a way that my fifth grader can't, so in some ways I feel more comfortable with her going back," Daugherty said.
"As a parent I would feel better about a hybrid of both options, maybe one going to school in the mornings and the other in the afternoons."
Daugherty isn't alone. A majority of Nashville parents are in favor of some type of virtual, or remote, learning for the 2020-21 academic year, according to data from a survey conducted by the firm Possip for Metro Schools this month.
The district tried to gauge parent interest in three options: in-person classes at school, online remote learning or a hybrid of both, which would include staggering student schedules between learning in the classroom and at home.
Despite interest in a hybrid model, Metro Schools notified parents Friday that they would have to choose between either remote learning for the fall semester or sending their children back to school completely.
"For those families that want to keep their students at home, we will be offering virtual schooling options that will allow students to make academic progress and meet state requirements for daily learning," Director of Schools Adrienne Battle wrote to families.
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In the survey, parents said they want more, improved remote options, even as 60% of more than 16,700 respondents felt comfortable or mostly comfortable with sending their children to school in August.
But how old students are, where they attend class and even the demographics of their school makes a difference in how their parents feel about them returning to class.
Opinions vary among parents
Overall, 34% of parents said that staggered schedules, or a hybrid model, was the best option for their children.
Parents from both majority white and majority non-white schools felt similar on the hybrid model: 31% of parents from majority white schools indicated a hybrid model was the best option for their child — compared to 36% of parents from majority non-white schools.
More than half, or 52%, of parents at majority white schools said that in-person learning would be the best option for their child — compared to 35% of parents from majority non-white schools.
On the flipside, 29% of parents from majority non-white schools consider remote learning the best option for their students compared to only 17% of parents from majority white schools.
Lyn Hoyt, a parent organizer and local education activist, isn't surprised by those results.
Though students of color or students from low-income families are more likely to be among nearly 31% of Metro Schools students who don't have access to technology at home, Hoyt said she has heard from many that flexible, nontraditional learning was a good fit for their family this spring.
Without the added pressure, distractions and discipline issues from being in the school building, Hoyt said some children were happier when school was online.
"Suddenly children could approach learning at their own pace," she said. "Families saw their children happier and being able to access their education at their own pace, in their own time, without biases and without judgment."
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Sonya Thomas, the executive director of Parents Requiring Our Public Education system to Lead, known as Nashville PROPEL, said many Black and other minority parents, realized how behind their children really were once they started homeschooling them this spring.
"You have some parents who once they had their children at home, they realized how far behind their children were, so they are going to do it themselves," Thomas said. "Parents are feeling this sense of urgency to make these tough decisions and the option to stay at home is very important to them."
Tasha Baker, the mother of two children who once attended Buena Vista Elementary School — which the district is slated close under the its multi-phased ReimaginED plan — said she isn't comfortable sending her children to a new, consolidated school she is unfamiliar with.
Her 9-year-old son has asthma, making him more susceptible to the coronavirus, and she doesn't think children should have to wear masks for hours while at school.
"I honestly feel like if they are even thinking of recommending that teachers and the kids have to wear a mask, if we are at that stage that they have to do that, than we shouldn't even be going back to school," Baker said.
The digital divide
For students to successfully complete schoolwork at home, though, there is one thing they need the most: technology.
Access to virtual learning will be a challenge that Metro Schools must overcome in order to offer "virtual learning options to as many parents and students as possible," as Battle proposed to the Board of Education last week.
The district deployed about 10,000 laptops after schools closed this spring, and Mayor John Cooper allocated $24 million of the city's federal CARES Act funding to purchase 90,000 laptops and 17,000 mobile internet hotspots. But district officials say it's unlikely those devices will arrive in time for the first day of school on Aug 4.
That's a problem for Daugherty.
This spring, her two children shared one laptop — Alistair, 10, did his schoolwork in the morning and Ella, 14, logged on in the afternoon.
But when Ella, a rising sophomore at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, had a morning meeting, it caused conflict, Daugherty said.
Even students who have access to technology might not thrive in a remote-learning environment, either. Questions remain about how the district would structure remote learning for younger students and those with special needs.
Indie Pereira said her daughter "does poorly with online classes." The mother of both middle and high school students, Pereira is considering sending her youngest child to Valor Collegiate Academies, a charter school, this fall instead of a public school because of her experience with the technology roll-out this spring.
"Like many if not most students she needs the structure and accountability that comes with in-person classes," Pereira said. "I worry that if she stays home it could affect her performance and her college applications. But, of course, it is difficult to know if it will even be safe to go to school in August."
She also worries about the quality of instruction her children might receive at home.
More vulnerable students
The majority of parents of elementary students are comfortable sending their children back to school this fall, possibly because of how difficult it can be to engage young students remotely, Battle told the board Tuesday.
Only 23% of elementary families said distance learning is the best fit for their child compared to 29% of families with high school students, according to the district's survey.
"Elementary families are the most comfortable with returning to in-person classes in August — which should not be surprising, as elementary education is the most challenging from a virtual perspective and requires the most time and attention from parents to be successful," Battle said.
Much of an elementary-aged student's learning happens through hands-on activities led by teachers. The social skills they are developing, especially in early elementary years, are also critical.
Still, some parents worry how practical it can be for younger students, who might have a harder time understanding social distancing or other health protocols, to return to school.
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Peter Robinson, the father of three daughters, has a child each in elementary, middle and high school in and near Bellevue and West Nashville.
Robinson can't imagine it being safe for elementary students to return to school without exposure or possible spread of the coronavirus.
"I cannot imagine elementary school children wearing masks or keeping physical distancing guidelines," Robinson said in an email. "Adults (myself included) have a hard time doing it, and young children are just not able to do it consistently enough to make it feasible."
Juggling work, whether from home or finding someone to watch their children, and making sure young students are learning could also be a challenge for parents of younger students.
"That's the benefit of having older students, or even if you were working from home, they are self-motivated and able to be self-starters," said Anna Thorsen, mother of an eighth and ninth grader.
As an advocate for students with dyslexia, Thorsen worries about the quality of the education students might get while at home.
"We know that kids with disabilities are going to struggle significantly outside of school because they receive a lot of one-to-one interventions and some interventions can't be done virtually," Thorsen said.
The district survey did not ask parents for feedback about potential health and safety protocols. But most parents The Tennessean spoke with said significant safety measures would have to be in place for them to feel comfortable sending their children back to school.
Battle told the board earlier this week that reducing the number of students could assist with social distancing inside school buildings and would help meet the needs of the nearly one-third of teachers and staff members who are also not comfortable with in-person classes this fall.
In Friday's email to parents notifying them of their two options, Battle said the district is developing plans to keep students who return to school healthy and safe.
"For those families who want their children to go to school, we will be providing personal protective equipment such as masks and sanitizer stations and enforcing social distancing whenever possible to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19," Battle said in the email.
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Meghan Mangrum covers education in Nashville for the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.