KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With weeks remaining until the fall semester begins, parents are making choices about their children's education. Schools districts across the metro are offering in-person, virtual and hybrid options in an effort to keep children safe and learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
41 Action News spoke to a few local students to get their take on what's at stake as parents determine their academic course.
10-year-old Haddie and her mom Annie.
13-year-old Samaiyah and her mom Samara.
15-year-old Riley and his mom Kara.
FROM THE CHILD'S PERSPECTIVE
Will all the students at your school wear a mask?
Haddie: "I feel like if you're in an air-conditioned place you can probably do it, so school maybe, but it just wouldn't be the same learning experience."
Samaiyah: "No. No. No, because wearing a mask is OK, but like for seven hours a day and we're sitting away from people. I'd be like... breathing actual air."
Riley: "I feel like a ton of kids would, but there would always be kids that wouldn't because some people just don't believe in it and some people would get sick of it."
How did online school work for you?
Samaiyah: "I liked online school. It helped, but I kept getting distracted. My phone would be sitting under me and I could feel it buzz, like, no I'm not going to touch it."
Riley: "It was weird. It didn't feel mandatory. I can't really remember anything already."
Your biggest concern?
Haddie: "I'm really privileged to have food and a house and clean water and all the stuff I need to thrive. Some kids and people do not have that."
Riley: "I wouldn't be as worried if they could do the things that they would need to keep kids safe in classes, but there isn't the funding for that."
Should schools go back to in-person learning?
Haddie: "It's not safe to go back to school yet. If there's rules being passed that we have to wear masks in schools and if my teachers are not going to be safe and my friends aren't going to be safe, I don't think anybody should be going back into school."
Samaiyah: "It's great, but there's also the fear that something else could happen."
Riley: "That would be a really bad choice because the numbers are higher than they have been ever and a lot of kids might get sick and a few kids will die."
What's your message for the decision makers?
Haddie: "What I have to say to parents out there, and not to all parents but to some parents, is that your choices are not only going to affect your students, but they're going to affect the students at your schools and they're going to affect your whole community."
Riley: "I feel like having a learning environment around you actually helps a lot."
FROM THE MOTHER'S PERSPECTIVE
What are your thoughts about safety?
Annie: "Safety is a moving target and there's a lot of competing needs and demands for our education system and for families."
Samara: "What happens at school is incredibly important to them, but what happens at school, their learning, is a backseat to her safety."
Kara: "I love him so much and I want him to be successful and I want him to be safe. We have to figure out maybe even as a community how we do that for all our kids. For all of our kiddos."
What are your biggest concerns?
Annie: "In an ideal scenario, my four children would be in a school building and the staff and the teachers and us as a family and the broader community in which that school sits would feel good and safe."
Samara: "This year I feel just like I did the very first time [she went to] kindergarten when she was off and beyond my scope of control."
Kara: "I worry about people entirely pulling their kids out because they don't trust the curriculum or the schooling because attendance and enrollment affect the funding that our schools get."
What is your message as leaders make decisions around your child's education?
Annie: "My oldest child loves school, so I think she probably is somewhat excited to go back. I think she is very hopeful that her school is finding some new ways to re-engage the students."
Samara: "Grieving normal. Being OK with things not being the same as they've always been so you have space for creating something new."
Kara: "I agree with him. From the mouths of babes. I just wish there were better solutions."
