BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Parents at Lockport City Schools are pushing for their kids to be back in school on a more regular basis as the district contemplates whether it's appropriate to bring elementary students back on Tuesday.
"We really feel that education in person is key at this point," Joanna Marble, a parent of two children at George Southard Elementary, said. "They're suffering. They're suffering not only from the education level but they're suffering socially and their mental health is suffering. We truly feel in-person education would benefit the kids tremendously, even if it's just six or eight weeks of full-time, in-person instruction until summer break hits."
Marble is one of the organizers of a planned parent protest outside of the district offices that will take place before the board of education meeting.
Currently, all students at Lockport Schools are eligible for hybrid learning. New York State's updated its education guidance on April 9 and gave the district the ability to expand reopening by lowering the social distancing limit to three feet. However, because Niagara County is considered by the CDC to be an area with a high-rate of transmission, as is most of New York, the reopening is only possible for students between Pre-Kindergarten and sixth grade.
The Lockport School Board and Superintendent Michelle Bradley met last week in a discussion where a majority of board members, albeit reluctantly, wanted to bring kids back to four days of in-person learning.
"There was no formal action taken at that meeting, but board members did express concerns/thoughts and it resulted in an informal gauge of where each board of education member stands," Board President Karen Young said to WBEN in a statement.
Superintendent Michelle Bradley did not respond to WBEN's request for comment but said in the meeting she was uncomfortable with the 5-4 split among board members, which is why she wanted a vote on Tuesday, since the board was meeting anyway to discuss a matter with BOCES.
"We're dealing with a global pandemic and dealing with health and safety," Bradley said last Wednesday. "That takes it to a whole different level. Can we guarantee that the virus isn't going to spread if we do this? No. Absolutely not. What would we do if there was a widespread outbreak in the building? We would have to manage that. We've never dealt with it before in my life. I can't answer what we would do. This is a very different type of decision."
But the parents continue to be eager to get their kids back into the classroom, believing the time is right to get their kids back.
"The teachers have been doing a great job but I don't think the remote learning is good for all kids," Marble said. "For our family, we work full time. We struggle with trying to find day care, trying to find somebody to teach them, or trying to do the work at night. I wouldn't blame the school district for that. At this point, I would like them to move forward and take the steps to get them as quickly as possible."
Marble is one of the organizers of Tuesday's demonstration.
She said the protest is about showing their support for kids going back.
"Getting the elementary kids back is a great first step," Fleurette Ferchen, a parent of two high schoolers, said. "It's very disappointed that I feel they're not doing more to get all the kids back in four or five days per week. It has been frustrating because you're hopeful things will go back."
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wben/news/local/more-elementary-students-are-returning-to-classrooms-today" headline=""It's like the first day of school" - the return of elementary students to 5-day in-person learning" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63632058"]Both Ferchen and Marble expressed concern that not only will their kids not be able to get back to the classroom before the end of the school year in June, but that their kids may not be back to regular in-classroom learning by September. New York has yet to give guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year.
