Should school be fully in-person during coronavirus? Heres what U.S. parents think. – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. After a surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases due to the omicron variant, many parents of K-12 students across the United States say that schools should offer a mix of in-person and online instruction in the winter season, a new survey by the Pew Research Center found.

The survey found that 53% of parents say schools should provide the mix of both types of instruction while 37% say schools should be fully in-person only, and 9% say schools should be fully remote.

When asked what factors schools should consider about offering in-person instruction this winter, many parents said schools should consider that students would fall behind academically (67%) or that their emotional well-being will be negatively impacted (61%) if they stay remote. Some parents (52%) also said they wouldnt be able to work if their kids are home for remote learning.

Other factors if kids went to school in-person include the risk to students or teachers of getting COVID-19 (43%) and spreading it (39%), and the financial cost to school systems to follow health guidelines to keep schools open safely (26%).

While a majority of parents think schools should offer a mix of in-person and remote instruction this winter, just 16% say this is the type of instruction their children are currently getting, according to the survey.

About 71% of parents said their kids are getting in-person instruction only, and 5% say their child is only learning remotely.

According to Pew, The analysis is based on a survey of 2,241 U.S. parents of children in K-12 schools who live in their household. The data was collected as part of a larger survey of 10,237 adults conducted Jan. 24-30, 2022.

In New York City, public schools have stayed open for in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year, even as cases rose because of the omicron variant.

As part of that effort to keep schools open safely, the city launched its Stay Safe and Stay Open plan that would double the number of students randomly tested at school, provide rapid at-home tests which reduced both the number of students who need to quarantine if exposed to COVID-19, as well as limit classroom and school closures.

Under this plan, students who are exposed to COVID-19 at school are required to take two rapid at-home tests over the course of five days. If the tests come back negative and students dont have COVID-like symptoms, they can continue to attend school as normal.

Since it was enacted, the number of classroom closures has been seemingly nonexistent. The DOE hasnt reported full or partial classroom closures in the city and therefore, no school investigations or closures have been reported.

Ahead of the midwinter break, New York City education officials announced last week it would update the coronavirus policy to increase the number of students tested in the citys weekly in-school random surveillance testing program.

It anticipates students and staff are now more likely to engage in activities and settings with less stringent health and safety measures. in response, the DOE is increasing the number of students who will be PCR tested for COVID-19 in schools starting Monday.

Starting Feb. 7, schools will test the larger of either 10% of the schools student enrollment in grades 1-12, up to a cap of 250 students; or 20% of the schools unvaccinated student population.

This change, the DOE said, will allow schools with a high number of vaccinated students to test a larger group every week.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.

Go here to read the rest:

Should school be fully in-person during coronavirus? Heres what U.S. parents think. - SILive.com