Your Voice: Students, parents, teachers share their thoughts on schools reopening this fall

All our coronavirus coverage is free to the public. It’s the right thing to do as a public service to our community. If you find this article helpful or informative and want to support our continued coverage, please subscribe or support us with a tax-deductible donation.

To find all our coronavirus coverage, including helpful local resources and website links, click here.

---

Kimberly Strickland misses her students, but the Cherryvale Elementary School teacher and mother of a middle school student has asthma, a health factor considered high-risk for developing complications if she were to contract COVID-19.

Parents, teachers, students and just about everyone else is eyeing the reopening of schools this fall as officials try to determine plans amid a continued increase in new cases and hospitalizations from the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Gov. Henry McMaster announced during a press conference that schools should be open to in-person instruction five days a week starting Sept. 8, allowing parents to make the decision on whether their children go to school on campus or virtually.

State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman was not at the news conference. That day, she released a statement saying she wants schools to be open for face-to-face learning "as safely and as soon as possible" but that each school district should be able to decide the threshold for safety.

McMaster did not mention the state's virus spread. On March 15, the day McMaster announced he was closing schools through March 31, DHEC reported 12 new cases. On July 15, DHEC reported 1,850 new cases of the virus.

The issue has become divisive.

Strickland said she will support whatever Sumter School District decides - currently the plan is to open on Aug. 17 with virtual-only learning - but that she wants a decision to be made so she and other teachers can have time to plan.

Opinions vary.

Adrienne Scarborough's son is a star student on the Crestwood High School marching band, but COVID-19 is too risky for the family to feel comfortable returning in person.

Amanda LeGrand Rogers' 6-year-old son is entering first grade at Millwood Elementary School. She doesn't take the pandemic lightly and is concerned for the family's safety going back, but she and her husband work full-time and cannot take the time needed to help him learn at home.

The Sumter Item wanted to hear from the communities most affected. We asked our Facebook community to share their thoughts on school in the fall by emailing, calling or reaching out in Messenger. Here are the responses from those who were able to detail where they are a student, parent or teacher/district employee.

Brooke Mccauley
Pocalla Elementary, Furman Middle parent

I am a parent of an upcoming first-grader at Pocalla and sixth-grader at Furman. I think parents should have the option of sending their kids to school five days a week. I do, however, feel that if a child needs to be kept out of school, instead of being marked absent entirely, they should be able to do virtual learning on the days that they are absent. I feel that face to face is best, and it should at least be given a shot. If after the first nine weeks there have been too many cases of COVID-19 in the school then we can revisit the issue. I understand the fear of a teacher getting sick and the whole class having to quarantine for two weeks, but two weeks of virtual learning is a lot better than months of it. I think if each class sticks to itself, for example not going to the cafeteria for lunch, only doing PE outside, recess outside, etc., then it would minimize the spread. Also, each parent that chooses to send their child to school should be held responsible for sending their child with adequate personal sanitizing items (Lysol, wipes, hand sanitizer, etc.). There are so many reasons that I want to shelter my child from this sickness, but there are so many reasons that I want to send them back to school to give them their normal life back. I believe the risk is no higher for my child at school than it is going into Walmart, Lowe's or any restaurant.

Diane Gregg
Cherryvale Elementary parent

My son goes to Cherryvale Elementary, and he isn't going back to school. We're not looking at the fact that some of the kids live with their grandparents or the fact that the cases are still rising or the kids don't know nothing about social distancing, and I work in the health care field, and I'm scared every day for the fact the school is about to start and is my son safe to go back. Or what about the teacher? They have family too? How are the teachers going to be safe from it? What about when the kids go to lunch or for recess or when they want to see their friends? I'm worried about these kids. Somebody needs to worry, 'cause right now he's not going back. I'll be damned if my son's life be in danger for nobody. I'm a single mom, and I try my best to make sure my son's life and safety come first.

Remona Mixon-Veltre
Sumter High parent

We are choosing to put our teachers and children in danger. My son is 16 and attends Sumter High School. It's an overcrowded school of almost 3,000 that has "gridlock" between classes at hallway intersections. I remember them vividly from my own time there, and that was 25 years ago. How do you police almost 3,000 teenagers who haven't seen each other in months? How do you stop them from holding hands or sneaking hugs and kisses? How can you keep my child safe enough that he won't bring COVID-19 home from school to my terminally ill father that we care for? A few of us are high risk. What would happen if both myself and my mother died? You see, I have managed to keep my 16-year-old at home and safe since March 14, and now you want me to shove him into a very dangerous and flawed system over politics? The same politics that have allowed this deadly virus to thrive with its rumors and falsehoods? We could be completely over COVID-19 now, but the numbers continue to surge. Is this really the America we are now?

Jennifer Baker
Kingsbury Elementary School parent

I have no issue with sending my children back to school. They need structure and a break from each other. Both my husband and I work 40 hours a week and find it a little difficult to make sure the kids are staying on task. I found it unfair that my children worked really hard to make sure their work was done during quarantine to pass their grade, and kids that never signed in or turned in work continued to the next class. I understand that most families may not have access to the internet, or many families have working parents, and some may have grandparents that are not tech-savvy. These children were lost in the mix. Teachers are ready to get back with their kids. I know because I'm friends with several. Maybe we should break the kids up in scheduled letters. Like Schedule A goes to school the first week. Monday ... Wednesday ... Friday, then Schedule B Tuesday ... Thursday ... and then rotate the day schedule throughout the year. Or they can enter the school at different times. Schedule A 8-11 schedule B 1-3. Just a thought.

Shawn Kelso
Sumter High parent

I have a rising ninth-grader who will be attending Sumter High this coming year. It is my desire for him to return to school for in-person teaching. He is an only child, and my husband and I both work full-time. While the kids were out at the end of last year, my son did not learn much of anything. His teachers pretty much posted material and left the students to teach themselves. He needs to be in a classroom where he can focus, learn, be around peers, have access to his teachers (so they can form relationships with each other) and have access to extracurricular activities and sports. I want the teachers and students to be safe, but I feel my son's education is extremely important.

Adrienne Scarborough
Crestwood High parent

As a parent of a rising junior of Crestwood High School, I prefer the option to be able to enroll my child into his school for virtual learning only. I wish for this to be how he attends for the entire upcoming school year. I am very concerned about the impact this virus could have on our health and our household as well as immediate family members we have who are high-risk. My son is a star student on the Crestwood marching and concert band and is a very social person, but we are willing to sacrifice sitting out of these activities for the sake of staying healthy. I just hope the district leaves the decision to individual parents on whether or not the children must return to face-to-face learning or not.

Kimberly Strickland
Alice Drive Middle parent, preschool teacher

I am a parent of an Alice Drive Middle School student and a preschool teacher at Cherryvale Elementary. I have asthma, so I am considered high-risk. I will support the district with whatever decision is made, but a definite decision needs to be made to give us time to prepare, either way! At this point, my classroom is usually about ready for the year! If we return face to face, I don't think we should have to burn our sick time because it is limited for us newer teachers that do not have large amounts built up. I would have to take time off if my minor child got sick too, so it could accumulate quickly.

Another issue would be cleaning and sanitizing supplies. It is difficult to find them and could become expensive for the teacher to purchase for frequent cleaning.

I miss being in the classroom and miss all my babies, but I would never want to think I was the reason one of my students became sick or that I put my son or husband at risk. There is really no perfect solution. I love my job and think that Dr. Martin-Knox and her team will take all this into consideration when making her decision about what is best for Sumter School District!

Amy Geddings
Kingsbury Elementary School parent

I want my children in school even if it's a few days a week. Education is so important! Virtual learning is a joke!

Amanda LeGrand Rogers
Millwood Elementary parent

I am a parent of a 6-year-old. He is starting first grade at Millwood Elementary in August. My immediate response is he needs to go back to school. I don't take this pandemic lightly. I have concerns for his safety once he goes back. It requires a great deal of trust and faith in Millwood as well as their trust in me to keep him home if he's sick. That being said, I still feel strongly that he needs to be in a classroom. My husband and I work full-time. When COVID-19 first showed up and shut everything down, I was home. I was able to give full attention to his final quarter of kindergarten. My parents were also home, so they were able to help out when needed. I am now back at work five days a week, as are my parents. I am very concerned about balancing a full-time job and keeping him on task for first grade. He isn't in a higher grade that can be left home alone or even at a point where he can be 100% responsible for getting his work done without someone helping.

I have seen the harsh comments that have been made on Facebook about people wanting to send their children back to school. I have seen the comments made by teachers about their concerns. I know my opinion may not be the popular one; however, I still feel the option needs to be given. I do not fault anyone who wants their child to remain home in August. I am very worried about the number of cases we have seen, and I fully understand that if they don't go down then virtual is the only option.

Maresa Hemminger Hudson
Sumter High parent

CCTC has been holding classes in person since summer semester opened. How many have become ill? Think independently. In person with precautions in place, like wash your hands, don't share, try to distance. And we have another month, more if we do wait until after Labor Day. At least offer the option of in person or virtual. I have two children at Sumter High. One's in ROTC and missed out on drill team competitions last year. Hard to do from home. He'll be a senior, and ROTC is his ticket to schools and scholarships as he plans to pursue a military career. The other would probably be fine doing virtual. So not only differences between families but even within families.

Bailey Rosdail
Sumter High student

I will be a senior at Sumter High School for this school year, and I strongly believe in-person instruction is the only option for high school students. At a younger age, it is easier to successfully do online school, but at our age we need interaction, and we need support from our teachers that we just didn't experience last year. Our teachers are not trained in online instruction, and it shows. High school is a once-in-a-lifetime experience unlike any other, and we are missing out on important traditions like homecoming and prom. Our state has shown that a large portion of people aren't gonna take precautions to stop the spread, and we can't force people to do that. Our students and our education is permanently suffering because our school district is disregarding the permanent damage that school online has caused us. I know lots of people who got worse grades online than they did in person. I also know students that didn't learn anything and found ways to cheat throughout last semester. The bottom line is, for high school students, online is not an option and will permanently damage our educations and our futures.

Gary Bettinger
Retired teacher and administrator; son and daughter-in-law are both teachers

Virtual school until the rates go down. We have to keep teachers, staff, students, and families safe!

Kim Singleton
Sumter High parent, nephew in kindergarten at Wilder Elementary

I feel the school should stay closed for now and have the teacher back in the classroom alone and do a Zoom type setting to teach their students. Then when things get better, numbers go down, we can gradually move into in-person school. With the children wearing masks.

Yani Evans
Counselor, mother, tutor

I'm a youth counselor, a mother and a tutor. Every day, I am face to face with parents that are battling what to do about their kids returning back to school. Some would like to continue virtually, and others would like their children to attend in-class sessions. Every child learns different. Some may perform better with in-class sessions while others prefer the more relaxed approach at home virtually. I personally say that the parents should have a choice. Middle and high school have in-class sessions because it's a whole lot easier to implement the social distancing than it would be for the younger age groups, which should remain learning at home.

Norm Mudgett
Coach and father of Sumter School District students

Mental health, education and the future of all these kids: Many students have parents who can't be home to force their children to learn online. Some have parents who don't care. Schools are not meant to raise children, but in some circumstances, it's the only place they go where adults care for them.

Also, we are going to lose a lot of these kids (academically) if we don't get them back in school. A lot of student-athletes only get grades (unfortunately) because of sports. No sports, no cares given. Coaches and teachers see it all the time. You can't take away the one responsibility kids have and expect them to succeed later in life.

Kids need interaction with other kids. They are learning more than just math and science; they are learning team work and communication. The end of last year is already going to have a negative effect on the upcoming school year. Kids will already be behind. Not getting them back is only going to make it worse.

Tabitha Haskins-Merkel
Fifth grade teacher, mother

COVID-19 has not stopped education. It has exposed a ton of flaws that have been there for years. It is forcing us to look at those flaws and adjust and modernize education so that it can be a tool for our future generations. Unfortunately, many of the people trying to force education to “be” a certain thing don’t really know what modern education is like. COVID-19 has caused a clash, an upheaval, a need to look closer.

Starting back to school is the biggest action called into question. I do think a hybrid model is for the best, but I was going to do my very best for my fifth-graders completely online. I serve a large chunk of the population that was “lost” during quarantine so I feel that making them show up physically in the building is important in not letting that happen again. However, yes, I am concerned with going back to work. I teach the oldest elementary age possible, and I know they are not going to be able to social distance and follow all the other safety precautions because guess what? Legally, I can (as a fifth-grade teacher, 10- and 11-year-olds for those of you out of the loop with kids) have up to 35 kids in my class. That is a huge number in not a huge space. My classroom was meant to comfortably accommodate maybe 20 kids. And that 20, that is without social distancing. I am worried, yes...For the health of their families and for mine.

Now I am not one to say all these things and not offer a solution. So, here is my answer. From a mom of two kids under 5, a wife and an educator of 10 years in Sumter schools.

Guarantee — yes, for those in the back, PROMISE LEGALLY — that there cannot be more than 24 students in my class!

That is a huge step one. Pre-pandemic, even the best teachers struggled at the elementary level to manage class sizes bigger than this and teach effectively. Effectively is the key word.

Now, the next few parts show my shortcoming. I am an elementary school teacher. Always have been. That being said, I don’t exactly have the perfect solution for middle and high schools, but something similar would still work, I just don’t have those solutions because that isn’t my area of experience.

This plan hinges on the 24 kids in each class. Divide the classes into four sets of students — a Monday group, Tuesday group, Wednesday group and Thursday group. Every Monday, the same six kids come to school for four to five hours (because related arts and recess probably are not happening). For those four to five hours once a week, those six children get intense, almost individualized instruction. In that time, you teach the concepts they will need to complete the work that will be due the next Monday that they can do at home. Then, on Tuesday, a different group of six kids comes in and receives the same instruction. Their work is due the next Tuesday. This continues for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday would be for planning because this is going to take a lot of work and thought.

As for breakfast and lunch, there is a solution there. Breakfast can be in the classroom and so can lunch for that matter. Or lunches can be served via bags and sent home. This plan does shorten the school day, but imagine the gaps that could be closed by seeing six kids for a focused four to five hours?!

Do this for the first little bit. See how case numbers go. As they hopefully drop, move it to Monday and Tuesday groups both coming in on Monday and Tuesday for their times and Wednesday and Thursday coming in for theirs. Build up to going back in-person full-force.

This also helps keep a mass quantity of kids from needing to be on the bus. Another issue many people haven’t thought of.

Now, is this plan perfect? Nope, but it is some kind of working solution that is plausible. And since we are seemingly being forced to go back once a week, it could work.

Maybe this was the wake up call we needed. Maybe the right person will see this and it could be some help. I don’t know what the future holds. What I do know is that I am a teacher. It is in every fiber of my being, and I will find a way, whatever the solution ends up being, to reach my students.