Marysville holds meeting to discuss correspondence from families, many urging return to five-day week
With surrounding districts making changes, local parents are putting pressure on the Marysville Board of Education and administration to return to five-day per week classroom instruction.
While the board remains committed to its hybrid model for the near future, there are signs that no plan is set in stone for district decision.
The board held a special meeting Thursday night to read more than two dozen letters from citizens commenting on the district’s current hybrid model. The special meeting was called because the board realized the wording discrepancy regarding a submission cutoff between the comment form and district website.
Of the 39 letters read at the meeting, 28 opposed the hybrid model and demanded that students return to class every day. Four letters supported the current hybrid model, five simply asked for clarification on the criteria being used to make decisions and two focused specifically on the planned switch to remote learning from Thanksgiving through January.
The letters of opposition touched on a variety of reasons for students to return to class full-time, including regressed learning, damaged mental health and financial hardships on families. The tone of the letters ranged from angry to empathetic.
“As the ‘science’ continues to ‘evolve’ it becomes more and more apparent that the risk to our children is very, very low. We allow education, nutrition, mental health, socialization and other issues be put aside at the cost of a .002% chance of a fully recoverable virus for our children. It is the parent’s choice to accept that risk! Stop dictating and listen to your students’ parents!! 5 days a week options now!!!” Douglas Chapman wrote in comments to the board.
Board members said they recognize the growing hardship the hybird model is putting on parents.
“I hear a sense of desperation from a lot of these parents,” board member Brian Luke said.
He went on to say that many of the parental concerns center on the fact that they don’t know what metrics the district is using to determine when a full return to class might be an option.
“It sounds like the parents feel like we just settled, like we have this plan and that’s it,” he said.
Luke said many of the letters express concern that families can’t carry the stress of the hybrid model for the remainder of the school year, if that is the plan.
“There’s been no intent to stay status quo,” district superintendent Diane Allen said. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t say we had some kinks to work out in the first three weeks because we’ve never done this before.”
Luke questioned if the health risk to the community was worth the educational regression and asked if students who are struggling in the hybrid learning model will ever be able to catch up educationally. Allen said the slowed gains in learning would not be permanent.
“With the right instructional strategies…we will be able to make gains, but it’s going to take time,” Allen said.
Board president Sue Devine asked how long it might take to make a switch, if the board and administrators decide to take that route. Allen said planning has been ongoing for the full return and she felt it would take about a week to put the change in place once the decision is made.
“We could make a shift relatively swiftly,” Allen said.
Allen said the remote learning plan over the holidays is not 100% assured. She said if the impact of the virus stays at the level it is currently, the remote learning break might not be needed.
“Right now I would say that doesn’t look to be a serious consideration,” Allen said, noting that officials will make the final decision on the break in late October.
Board member Dick Smith said district officials are being asked to make decisions that impact the health of community members based on a sample of just 20 days in school. He said more time is needed to determine what safety protocols work best and could transition into a full return to class.
Allen echoed those statements, saying that officials would need at least the first nine week under the hybrid model before considering a change.
“There’s not a day or a night that goes by that we’re not trying to figure out a way to do things better,” Allen said.
The scrutiny of parents growing more unsatisfied seemed to wear on the superintendent as she described the balancing act between education and safety. Her voice wavered late in the meeting as she described the difficulties that go into the decision-making.
“There’s not research that provides a playbook for a superintendent or board of education on exactly how to handle a pandemic crisis and make sure students are safe and the community is safe,” Allen said.
Parent comments
Below is a sampling of quotes read at the meeting in support of a five-day school week:
•“We are putting families in financial trouble, marriages struggling, increase in mental health, increase in anxiety and an increase in screen time all which is proven to be unhealthy. We are robbing our youth of a proper and purposeful education.”
•“With every day that passes, I’m watching my daughter change. The excitement that was once there, when it came to her education, is beginning to fade.”
•“This is going to have detrimental affects on these kids for years to come. Stop ruining their lives and get them back in school full time.”
• “This school board has failed the parents who voted for them and the students of Marysville Exempted School district.”
• “This is putting a huge strain on mental health, more than most want to recognize.”
• “My children used to LOVE school, but now say they hate it and they are giving up trying.”
•“The fact the children aren’t in school is just completely insane. How long are we going to let our children’s education suffer before we say enough panic is enough and quit living in fear of something that isn’t even extreme in this county?”
•“They used to love school, now they cry they hate it. They are not socialized and their mental states are in a low place.”
• “Let’s also talk about the undue hardship that this is putting on the parents as well. Parents are expected to be available to teach their children while holding down full-time jobs. This is not realistic.”
•“Also, expecting parents to suddenly come up with money for daycare is unrealistic as well, so many are just barely getting by.”
•“We’ve had to put our two kids in day care during their remote learning days and it is breaking us financially.”
•“I’m not scared of the virus and neither are my kids.”