After sending students home from school to learn when the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect Connecticut, then switching to a mix of in-person and remote learning, state officials want students to have a more traditional in-person educational experience. But some parents have concerns.
Sami P. is concerned about the lack of a virtual public school option and how that could hinder her family, medically and financially.
“So, it’s really a necessity for our family to have a virtual school,” she said.
“There are private virtual schools like the ones my children are going to right now but they’re quite expensive. They are expensive for me and they’re expensive for all the other families, especially families with health disabilities often have financial problems because you can’t pull a 60-hour week and get ahead in the workplace. So, it’s really a necessity for the handful of families around the state like us,” she added.
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Patrice McCarthy, deputy director for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, said health metrics show that schools continue to be a safe environment and opportunity for in-person learning.
“It’s so critically important, not just for the academic needs of students but for there’re social and emotional needs to have that connection with caring adults,” McCarthy said.
But, according to McCarthy, there will be options for a student who needs remote learning.
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“Currently there are situations because of true health necessities school districts will provide accommodations for the instruction of students and that will continue to be the case. That’s a result of both federal and state law so those requirements will be fulfilled,” McCarthy said.
