East Aurora Advertiser

Parkdale Students to Return Full Time to School in May



For the first time in over a year, students will begin attending school full time at Parkdale Elementary on May 3.

The district recently made this decision following a change in COVID-19 guidelines. In March, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention changed social distancing guidelines from 6 feet to 3 feet for school-age children. New York State and the Erie County Department of Health soon followed and also changed their guidelines, but because transmission rates are high in Erie County, this change is limited to students at the elementary school. Students at the middle school and high school are going to remain on the hybrid schedule, which is the only option that currently meets the guidelines for distancing.

There are 25 students at Parkdale that will continue as remote learners for the remainder of the year. In January, there were 59 remote learners and each grade had one teacher who was dedicated to teaching the remote learners for half of the day. In most cases, the remote learners will still be with the same teacher, but the remote learner will be learning along with the live class in synchronous education. Up to now, teachers at Parkdale have not been using this model for teaching because they have either been teaching to a class that is 100 percent in-person or fully remote. Parkdale teachers have been working with teachers from other buildings and the technology department to prepare for this change.

At the April 14 school board meeting, Parkdale teacher Kim McAtee wrote that she was not in favor of the students returning full time this year. She said that she was disappointed that other teachers have not been involved in discussing how this change in plans will impact teachers and students. She said that there have been other times this year that the district asked more from the teachers, such as adding more live instruction on Wednesdays and then teaching in-person on Wednesdays, and the teachers rose to the occasion each time, but she was struggling with the rationale behind rewriting schedules and sending students back to Parkdale full time with less than two months of school remaining.

“I am frustrated and disappointed. I understand that guidance around social distancing has changed. I would love for things to change to how it was before the pandemic. This is not the time,” McAtee wrote. “Cramming children inside of classrooms seems like an ill conceived idea. Covid rates are high and rising and we don’t know what the effects are on after the travel that came with spring break. Full-time attendance in September is a more appropriate use of resources.”

Erie County has the highest current transmission rate in the state and infection rates are increasing among elementary students. The county department of health reports that since March 2020, there have been over 3,200 children from infant to 9-years-old who have been infected with COVID-19. In the week of April 4 to April 10, there were 238 cases among this age group, making up nearly 7.5 percent of total cases.

The NYS COVID-19 Report Card states that there have been 104 confirmed cases among students, teachers and staff since doors reopened in September. In February, this number was 47.

If cases at Parkdale exceed 3 percent, the entire school may have to pivot to remote learning. It will not pivot back to hybrid learning.

East Aurora parent Jessica Masters said she supports the hybrid education model continuing for the rest of the year. With only two months remaining, the risks outweigh the benefits of switching back to full-time instruction and she said pivoting to full-time and in-person instruction will be a drastic change for the students. She asked the district to survey the parents to see if they wanted to return to full-time.

“The last survey asked if I would send my child full time, not what my preference was,” Masters wrote in a letter to the board. “There might be academic benefits, but they cannot reap all of the benefits, like the social ones, with still 3 feet of distance. We can’t go back to ‘normal’ in terms of recess, gym class, sitting close in the cafeteria, etc. Asking children to switch their routines for only two months of school, when they will still be masked and distanced, is not worth it. Much of the adult population is not yet vaccinated with new variants spreading rapidly. It is too disruptive and risky. Let’s plan for the fall and let the kids finish under the current model.” 

Superintendent Brian Russ said that the health department has deemed that it is safe to bring students back to school full time in this age group because transmission does not happen in school. Russ said that so far, all reported cases have contracted the virus with their families. 

Russ also wants to caution parents that while social distancing guidelines have changed, the guidelines for contract tracing have not changed. Contact tracing occurs when individuals are within 6 feet of someone positive with the virus for more than 10 minutes. The individuals contacted are then required to quarantine for 10 days. Because students at Parkdale are now going to be within 3 feet of each other for most of the day, there is a possibility that more students will have to quarantine.

“I can’t predict, but I suspect more students will be contacted,” Russ said. This might impact four to nine students in each class. If you are contacted, you have to quarantine. This does not mean more additional spread within the school.” 

Parents in East Aurora began asking for more classroom time in January within all school buildings. They also feel the district has not moved fast enough to enact this measure. At the last school board meeting, Russ and Board President MaryBeth Covert said that the district’s decision to reopen Parkdale was based on science and not external pressure, but parents have made comments about the district being weak, caving to the teacher’s union and potentially voting down the proposed budget.

“Parents and taxpayers in EA are shocked that a high performing school district has failed to demonstrate to return children to a more rigorous academic situation of daily, in-person learning. In a school district such as ours, we would expect that our superintendent and board of ed would be leaders among the other districts around the country,” East Aurora parents Keith and Dawn Vona wrote in a letter. “What has happened to our standing? As a result of this disappointing action, the community is becoming increasingly unsettled about the opinion of this school system. Several taxpayers are considering voting down the budget on May 18.” 

East Aurora parent Alicia Wittman said that if schools do not return to full-time education soon, she is considering pulling her children out of the district. She has children in Parkdale and the middle school. She said that the mental health crisis that the lockdown has created is unacceptable, and all her children have learned this year is how to be afraid.   

“The virus is not going anywhere and we need to live around it,” Wittman said. “Children are having issues from lack of socialization with peers and a lack of a routine. Their social skills will be impacted by the amount of screen time and lack of socializing. This is resulting in students acting out and not following directions, some aren’t wanting to learn entirely and it is painful to watch. Before this year, these students were excited about learning and are passionate about school. It’s time to go back.”

One parent wrote a letter to the board urging for all students to go back full time and for the district to be a forerunner on pushing back on coronavirus restrictions.

“I support a full return for students and I also support the end of covid related restrictions such as barriers and masks. While I understand this direction comes from the state, I believe it is the district’s responsibility to pressure the state to look out for the students well being,” district parent George Barbari said. “These restrictions are catered to parents who want to ruin their children’s lives for a false sense of security. I believe you will find most families do not support the actions of the state and this district. Please help our children.”

Russ said it would be irresponsible to remove all restrictions. He said that the district is still going to use the plexiglass barriers that students carry around during the day because Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein says it is best to be as cautious as can be, especially with the rates so high. Russ said that in September, he never imagined that schools in East Aurora would be on the hybrid schedule all year and he is proud of the work that students and teachers have accomplished, despite the limitations.

“I am pleased. I wasn’t expecting students to make as much progress as they have, especially using a new teaching model this year,” Russ said. “They are doing excellent work with our students.”

The school board meets again on April 21. The meeting will be streamed live on the district website www.eastauroraschools.org and it will be recorded and saved to watch at a later date. 

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