Shawnee Mission parents, teachers clash on district decision to start year online
Two conflicting groups appealed to the Shawnee Mission school board Monday afternoon — one celebrating the district’s decision to start the school year online, the other demanding in-person classes and fall sports.
In addition, hundreds of parents and students protested outside the district administrative building before Monday evening’s board meeting, with signs that read “open schools” and “let them play.” Many parents in the group worry that students’ mental and physical health will suffer at home.
The other group said the district’s decision will protect teachers and students from contracting coronavirus in the classroom and then bringing it back to their families — especially as community spread of the virus remains high. Many wore T-shirts that read “Support SMSD teachers” and held signs thanking the school board.
Last week, the Shawnee Mission district announced it would begin the school year after Labor Day with all of its students in online classes. In addition, all sports and activities are suspended.
Shortly after the decision was announced, hundreds of residents organized on Facebook, either promoting in-person classes or supporting school starting remotely. After protests were scheduled, the district announced it would hold a “listening session” at Shawnee Mission West High School on Monday afternoon.
Shawnee Mission’s decision follows guidance from Johnson County health officials, who said the county is in the “red” zone after a surge in coronavirus cases. Officials advised districts to start the year with most students learning remotely. The county also recommends that sports be suspended while in the “red” zone.
“There are a lot of folks who are longing for and want, and I think we all want, what we’re used to — what’s normal in our lives. And the faster we can return to that, the better,” Superintendent Mike Fulton said at Monday night’s board meeting. “Our challenge is trying to do that in a way that keeps students and staff, families and the community safe.”
Elementary school plans
Under the county’s criteria, elementary students could have returned to in-person classes, as Olathe and Blue Valley are planning. That’s because, in part, “young children have the largest educational benefits to gain by being in school,” health officials said, and “most young children are unable to stay home safely by themselves.”
But Shawnee Mission decided against offering different learning models to the various grade levels. Shelby Rebeck, health services coordinator, said the district decided to “take it slow and do it right.”
“That doesn’t mean we aren’t bringing elementary kids in as soon as we can. It just means we’re starting with caution,” she said.
That was a sticking point for some residents, who argued that the district should at least allow elementary students back in class. Many worry about a lack of child care options or having to quit their job to help teach their student from home.
“We know they need more supervision and guidance, much more than the older kids. … We know that school provides buffering for childhood trauma. And we know kids need security and consistency and healthy meals and exercise and positive relationships,” said Skylar Bellinger, a child psychologist who pushed for elementary students to be in classrooms.
But some teachers said they were relieved to learn they would start the year online, worried that they will carry the burden if a student or staff member contracts COVID-19.
“I am concerned because in our nation and in our community, the minority population is being hit at a tremendous rate and I’m not seeing a lot of people who are making decisions for me discuss that,” said Angela Conner, an elementary music teacher. “We are a minority family, so I am concerned when I’m asked to teach 100 students a day, that I’m not at the same advantage as someone in a different situation.”
Alyssa Passmore, an art teacher at Hocker Grove Middle School, said the district’s decision “allowed me to sleep at night” and eased her anxiety.
“I miss my students something fierce. I’ve mourned the loss of our normal school reality,” she said. “I believe my purpose in this world is to teach kids. I’m not pushing for remote learning because I’m lazy or because I don’t want to teach anymore. I ache for the chance to laugh and learn with them, which will happen online.”
Pleas for sports
Whether to allow students to practice and compete in sports this fall has been another point of contention, in Shawnee Mission and across the region.
Jaime Velez Acosta, a soccer coach and math teacher at Shawnee Mission North High School, said he worries that with fall sports canceled, students will continue to gather for games without being forced to follow the district’s safety protocols.
“What are the expectations that we have when kids leave the school if we don’t have activities in school? Are they going to use the masks? Are they going to be social distancing?” he asked. He said soccer players have worked “for almost six years to get to this point, and taking that from them is going to be hard.”
Officials in both Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission said they are working with the Kansas State High School Activities Association to consider moving fall sports and activities to a spring season. Last week, a Blue Valley spokeswoman confirmed that more than 100 Blue Valley West football players are in quarantine for 14 days because three people tested positive for COVID-19.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was asked about her position on fall sports being played during a Monday afternoon press briefing.
“I’ve been saying for over six months now that people need to wear masks, they need to socially distance, they need to avoid mass gatherings at all costs. So while I completely understand the desire of both the players and the fans to get back in the stadiums, I don’t believe that this is the time — particularly for high-contact sports,” Kelly said.
She said that it would “probably be a good idea to consider reversing the sports and move spring sports to the fall.
“Those tend to be more individual — cross country, tennis, golf — and then move some of the more contact sports into the spring in hopes that we’ve got a vaccine by then and we can play those safely.”
Kansas City area protests
Similar protests are taking place across the Kansas City metro. Last week, dozens of parents and students demonstrated outside of Blue Valley’s administration building, urging the district to open schools and allow fall sports. In Olathe, more than 1,400 people have joined a Facebook group fighting for in-person learning and planning a demonstration at next month’s board meeting. Last week, Lee’s Summit parents also protested the plan for all online-learning.
But on Saturday, Independence teachers protested the district’s plan to have in-person classes, which began Monday.
Many posts on new Facebook groups have spread misinformation and COVID-19 myths. Some residents protesting at meetings also have shared false information, such as listing a certain number of suicides attributed to the pandemic. Johnson County officials have said the numbers are incorrect.
“We would be very hesitant to ever state with any certainty a cause of suicide, other than loneliness and despair,” said county mental health center director Tim DeWeese, in a statement. He said that as of July, the total number of deaths by suicide, 47, so far in 2020 was slightly higher than in 2019, but lower than in 2018.
Last month, the Johnson County health department released its guidance to school districts, which was crafted in collaboration with the six districts. It includes reopening phases based on two key metrics:
The positivity rate is the average percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over a 14-day period. The rate was over 10% for days — 10.5% as of Monday. For all students to return to in-person classes, full time, the rate would need to be under 5%. The other metric says the number of new coronavirus cases each day must be steady or decreasing.
Includes reporting by The Star’s Matthew Kelly.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 5:30 PM.
