Dr. Curry, 

Will we or won’t we go back to school this fall? The coronavirus is the reason this question is being asked. I believe we should return to school in the fall due to the way online learning is being handled now. The work we are receiving right now is not educating us in the way we desire and need, and many students do not do the work, which is impacting their future. In addition to students not taking the work seriously, many don’t have access to internet from their home or have a stable home life to help them succeed, so they use school as an escape. In order to help solve this problem , a select group students should return to school in the summer and work together with the staff to help set safe guidelines to make sure every student and staff member is safe. 

In this new time where school is being done online, many students don’t do the work given or don’t take it seriously because they think because it’s online it doesn’t matter, even teachers know the student’s aren’t getting the education they need. Laura Meckler, Valerie Strauss and Moriah Balingit, authors of an article titled, “Under Pressure to Reopen this Fall, School Leaders Plot Unprecedented Changes,” said that “remote education is far less effective and may leave lasting academic damage.” Some students don’t even have the resources to access online learning platforms like internet or a computer. This year, in the month of April a statistics site with the title of statistica.com did an evaluation of active internet users and saw that 4.57 billion people used the internet. Now that might seem a lot but that’s only 59% of the global population, meaning that over 40% of people might not have access to the internet. Although every country isn’t distance learning, most of them are so many kids would be missing out on certain things. 

Although I’m pushing for schools to reopen this fall, I do understand the worry about reopening. Most people are still timid about that idea of going back to school because if schools do reopen, they are putting their children, families, and community at risk. To help ease the nerves of many people, we can make compromises to help protect the students and teachers, while also preserving our educational system. In order to protect the students and teachers we can implement rules such as staying six feet apart, wearing masks, and limiting contact with others, just like we are doing now. If some people don’t think that is enough, we can have alternating school days where a third or half the students come in while the other third or half of students work from home. I know that going back to school poses many risks, like I’ve mentioned before, but if we continue online education, we won’t be getting the education which we so desperately need and want. 

 We need to return to school this fall or our education will face the consequences. If you decide for us to stay home this fall and continue online education, then students will complete less work and continue to be disengaged. They won’t be getting the education they need. The only choice is going back to school this fall to preserve our education instead of letting it rot away at home.  

Dr. Curry, instead of reading this letter and thinking, “this kid has a point,” then toss it to the side and start reading the next one, take action. After reading this letter, start researching ideas and ways to protect the students and teachers while also allowing them to go to school. Reach out to some of those students and teachers to get more ideas on how to return safely. 

Sincerely, Marco Allan DeCesaris