We all want Kansas kids back in school — but this pandemic has other plans

Everyone wants to get back to normal.

We’d all like children back in school on regular schedules, riding buses, in classrooms, with teachers who can give hugs and high-fives.

Unfortunately, things aren’t normal.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s plan to delay the start of school recognizes that simple fact: As local coronavirus cases continue to surge and Wichita-area hospitals warn that they’re nearing capacity with COVID-19 patients, we can’t just pretend everything’s OK.

The governor’s plan to keep schools closed through Labor Day would allow districts to hone plans and communicate them to employees and families.

It also would buy a few precious weeks during which residents might finally get serious about face masks, and we might see the troubling trends start to slow down or reverse.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait and see. If there’s one thing we know about this virus, it’s that we don’t know much about this virus.

Since the first documented case of COVID-19 in Sedgwick County, information about its spread and the best practices for protecting the community have evolved and changed. That’s the nature of epidemiology, and it’s frustrating but unavoidable.

Now, a few weeks from the planned reopening of Kansas schools, we’re looking at a long list of recommended safety protocols that will affect every aspect of the school day, from transportation to class schedules.

Once again, parents will have to adapt — and local employers will, too.

This week, Wichita school board member Ben Blankley urged Wichita-area business owners, managers and human resources officials to be flexible as parents scramble to arrange child care or supervise at-home learning.

“The school restart is going to be tough on our working families,” Blankley said. “The summer was not easy, the spring was even worse.

“The entire community needs to understand that . . . a layoff or a voluntary separation should not be the first option,” he said. “We should be looking at (offering workers) second shift, reduced hours, those kinds of things, because kids working remotely are going to need an adult there.”

When the governor ordered schools closed last spring, the Wichita district scrambled to keep kids learning with online programs and paper packets. Even so, about one in six high school students had no contact with their teachers during the shutdown; some schools reported even lower participation at certain grade levels.

Since then, the Wichita district revamped its online learning academy and approved spending $24 million to buy Wi-Fi-enabled devices for all secondary students.

Even the best technology can’t replace face-to-face instruction with caring, qualified teachers, so it’s no wonder that many Kansans want a swift return to in-person classes.

But this pandemic has other plans. The governor’s order to delay reopening schools is unfortunate but prudent, and the Kansas Board of Education should approve the plan.

Then it’s up to all of us — particularly local employers — to adjust, adapt and accommodate working parents as much as possible.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 3:25 PM.