Kelly Fisher|Nashville Tennessean
Sumner County students and teachers went back to school on Monday and Tuesday, depending on which day was the first for students enrolled in the hybrid schedule implemented in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The return to in-person classes garners mixed emotions from parents, students and teachers, ranging from trust in the Sumner County Schools plan to feeling as though they’re “being made to walk the plank (into) shark-infested waters.”
The hybrid model brings in students whose last names begin with A through K on two days each week, and the rest of the alphabet on another two days. The remaining dates are reserved for online learning. Officials will re-evaluate plans after 10 days.
What does the hybrid plan mean for families?
Parents are stressing the importance of hand-washing and other guidelines to their kids.
Some parents are sending their kids to school because their work schedule doesn’t allow home-schooling as an option. Some families rely on in-person learning when access to technology and internet is spotty.
Some parents and guardians worry that their disabilities place them at a higher risk of the novel coronavirus, and their students might bring it home.
Others worry about the abilities of their children, who need educational resources in person or risk falling behind. Some parents juggle unanticipated daycare costs on the remote learning days, when they can’t neglect work.
Some are "horrified" by the return to school when people were barred from even getting haircuts not long ago.
Some were "freaking out" at registration night because teachers and principals were apparently not enforcing social distancing or mask-wearing —County Mayor Anthony Holt extended the county's mandate through at least Aug. 29 among elementary students.
Sumner County has remained among the top counties reporting the highest case counts in Tennessee during the pandemic. There were 3,264 confirmed or probable cases Wednesday, the latest data available from the Tennessee Department of Health. Of those, 1,327 cases are active. There have been 1,866 recoveries and 71 deaths.
Despite those statistics, Sumneris one of the first districts in Middle Tennessee to see students return to classrooms.
More than two dozen districts statewide have reopened schools as of press time, many in person and many in smaller, rural districts. At least 14 confirmed coronavirus cases connected to schools reopening have been reported in Tennessee.
More:These Tennessee school districts are already reporting COVID-19 cases after reopening
Survey: How parents, teachers responded to reopening
Director of Schools Del Phillips reviewed recent survey results from parents and teachers about school reopeningduring a school board meeting last month, less than two weeks before the start of school.
Out of 7,284 responses from families, 29% of parents believed the district’s hybrid plan met their families’ needs. Thirty-eight percent said the plan mostly meets their needs, and 34% said it didn’t meet their needs.
Half of the parents surveyed said they would feel most comfortable if all students and staff wore masks. The other half said they were either against masks or indifferent.
Sumner County Schools also posed questions to teachers, receiving 1,303 responses. Of those, 17.5% said they were very comfortable with returning to school in traditional, in-person settings. That’s followed by 36.7% who said they felt comfortable, 29.2% uncomfortable and 16.6% very uncomfortable.
Additionally, 39.4% of teachers responded that they would feel more comfortable returning to school if masks were mandated for all adults and students age 13 and older. The remaining participants said no or felt indifferent.
“Please wear your mask,” board member David Wilkerson said in the meeting. “It’s the way we’re going to defeat this virus."
Board members noted the many hours “poured” into the hybrid plan. They also have been “inundated” with calls and emails with questions and concerns.
Ted Wise pointed out to parents that Phillips, board members and other officials“are not your enemies... they will do nothing intentionally to harm your children.”
Elected officials say they know what it’s like to make the decisions other Sumner County families are making.
“I share your struggles...we’re struggling with it just like you are,” Andy Daniels said. “Whatever decision you make, you’re right...I’ll do whatever I can to protect (my kids).”
Jeff Duncan noted that athletes already practicing —some of whom have tested positive —and they're doing it in masks.
"Itworks,” he said. “The data shows it."
“If you want your child to come back to school full time —which is what we all want, we want normal —please do your part to help bring these numbers down and to contain the spread,” Betsy Hawkins said.
'I really don’t know for sure what to do': How parents made their decisions
Lorraine Looney said she feels “pretty positive, in general,” about the hybrid plan. But her family still had unanswered questions when she spoke with the Tennessean days before the beginning of the school year.
Looney is a social worker, mother of three and the founder of the Sumner County Special Needs Collaborative. The group launched in June to advocate for people in Sumner County who have special needs.
Though the hybrid plan seems “thorough” for most students, Looney said it’s not as thorough for students who have special needs, like her child. Planning for the year has been “frustrating,” in that regard.
“It’s really been kind of a wild goose chase,” she said, later adding, “(It’s) important for parents to be informed and know how to be their child’s best advocate.”
More:'It's a hard choice': Sumner County parents send kids back to school with hybrid model
Other parents had reasons of their own for sending their kids to school using the hybrid model.
Christy Lockwood dropped her daughter Cecelia off at Merrol Hyde Magnet School on Tuesday, her first day back in the classroom since schools closed in March.
Lockwood said Cecelia had “no choice” but to attend classes in person via the hybrid model because a class she needs isn’t available online.
Cecelia did well in her classes when they transitioned to a virtual format in spring, Lockwood recalled. She looked forward to seeing her friends again, but also understands the “severity” of the ongoing pandemic and the potential of severe complications should her mother be exposed to the virus.
Though she appreciates the limited number of students in classrooms and the opportunity for in-person learning for students who need it, Lockwood said she would have preferred online learning for her daughter this year.
Vickie Rogan counted on her 9- and 10-year-old grandchildren to enroll in virtual learning, but “didn’t know nothing” about the deadline until it had passed.
The communication breakdown barred her from opting for online learning, and she doesn’t expect she’s alone in that. Others also said deadlines had passed by the time their questions were answered.
Though she said she’s thankful for the things she can provide for her grandkids, Rogan feels “lost” navigating back-to-school plans.
“They cannot make you send your child to school during a pandemic,” Rogan said.“I’m not sending my grandbaby to school... I really don’t know for sure what to do.”
Families of teachers 'helpless' as loved ones head back to school
But the return to the classroom doesn’t just impact students and teachers. It takes a toll on family members, too.
David Fite is wrestling with “having this terrible feeling of being helpless and watching from the sidelines.”
He’s grappling with knowing that if his relatives get the virus, he might not ever get to see them again.
His sister —a Sumner County teacher who declined to speak on record —headed back to school this week. Fite said his sister “has no control over the most important basic right that anybody has, which is the right to life, because of decisions that other people have made.”
Despite the precautions and plans, Fite has lingering concerns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends good ventilation, he said, and without the ability to leave doors to the outside open, the same —potentially contaminated —air will ventilate.
“(It’s) stunningly frustratingand kind of enraging that people don’t care anymore about the health of other people (and) to just lively go along and say, ‘let’s get back to school,’” Fite said, later noting that he understands many parents are eager to return to work or maintain jobs and have to have a place for their children. “(Reopening schools is) what everybody wants, but my goodness, so far nothing has changed about this virus other than that it’s all gotten a lot worse.”
Many parents have an option to keep their children home. Teachers and staff, on the other hand, can’t do that, he said. Fite predicts children will “absolutely” bring COVID-19 into schools, and those predictions aren’t unfounded.
Already, schools are shuttering their doors only two weeks into the academic year after confirming coronavirus cases.
As of Wednesday, almost 50 school districts have started the school year in Tennessee, many with in-person learning.
More:These Tennessee school districts are already reporting COVID-19 cases after reopening
“It just seems reckless,” Fite said.“When people get sick because of this and when some of them die because of this, it will be because the Board of Education decided to ignore all of the warning signs.
“(My sister) and my mom are being made to walk the plank,” Fite said. “They might survive the shark-infested waters, they might not... It’s upsetting. I feel helpless, and frankly, really pissed off.”
Kelly Fisher can be reached at KPFisher@gannett.com, 615-801-3866 or on Twitter at @KellyPFisher.
