PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia's school board is hearing firsthand about how the pandemic continues to pose a challenge for students, parents and educators. The decision to reopen some Philly schools dominated a five-and-a-half-hour school board listening session Thursday night.
"It has been a struggle, and we are not learning enough. And our grades, motivation and mental health are hurting," McCall Elementary school sixth-grader Mason Sedar told the school board.
"Since the start of this, I've been slowly losing my motivation to get on to school every day and do work, even though during the in-person learning every year I have been a straight-A student," he shared. "This is only one reason we need full in-person school in the fall and at least hybrid learning for everyone now."
Abby Gorman, a student at the Girard Academic Music Program, said without lunch or recess, she can't get to know her classmates. "This is hard to say, but it's been tough for me to make friends," she said.
"Trying to get to know another person from behind a screen isn't the same," she continued, appealing for help. "In Philadelphia, I can go to Candytopia, go to theater classes or play sports and eat inside of a restaurant. You can do almost anything except go to a public school in person."
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John Stuetz, a teacher at Mayfair Elementary, which reopened but then closed when five cases were reported there, asked the district to post a COVID-19 dashboard.
"You're surprised we lasted six school days? Just because some teachers became vaccinated, this global pandemic didn't end," Stuetz said.
"We've watched as even now you mislead the city about the supposed safety of any reopening when we know that case counts and positive testing rates remain incredibly high."
The school board took no action at the marathon meeting. 133 speakers registered for the hearing, one of two listening sessions the board is required to hold each year.