No public school in St. Louis city or county will open five days a week to all students this fall. No private school is likely to open 100% online.
School reopening plans are creating a scenario where in-person learning is mostly available to those who pay for it. The situation has renewed discussions around inequality in education as school leaders acknowledge that virtual school is less effective academically for most students.
Virtual school “puts a huge burden on parents with limited time, resources and academic knowledge,†said Jessica Calarco, an associate professor at Indiana University who studies schools and inequality.
In addition to the strain on families, the diverging reopening plans can have a negative impact on employers if parents have to assist with virtual learning, Calarco said.
“This pandemic has made deeply clear how dependent our economy is on public schools,†she said.
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About 90% of American children attend public schools, where state budgets and union contracts have made it more difficult to adjust curriculum and staffing during the coronavirus pandemic. A majority of school districts in the St. Louis region plan to start the school year online at least through the first nine-week quarter.
The move to virtual learning spurred some families to seek last-minute tours and applications at private schools. At least 11 students have transferred to Our Savior Lutheran in Fenton from the Rockwood School District, which announced Thursday its move to 100% virtual.
There are 405 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grades at Christ Community Lutheran School, up from 376 last year. The school’s elementary and middle school campuses, situated in the all-virtual Kirkwood and Webster Groves public school districts, have turned away at least 12 families for lack of openings, according to Executive Director Matt Hoehner.
With the coronavirus surging in Missouri and the St. Louis area, the St. Louis County health department issued a recommendation July 30 for schools to start “in as virtual of an environment as possible.†But County Executive Sam Page has also said he supports schools that choose to open in-person under safety guidelines.
John Burroughs School in Ladue is better prepared for in-person learning because the buildings have upgraded ventilation systems, the school doesn’t provide transportation and its plan to rotate half the 650 students on campus each day allows room to spread out, according to a July 31 letter from Head of School Andy Abbott.
Private or parochial schools that are more dependent on tuition could feel pressure to reopen because parents are less willing to pay for online education, Calarco said.
While a majority of Catholic schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese are expected to offer remote learning options, some grade schools will not provide virtual classes and teachers will be expected to work in the buildings.
One St. Louis Catholic school teacher who asked not to be identified said she was concerned that teachers would not be tested for COVID-19 before returning to buildings as recommended by the city health department. The archdiocese encourages school staff to get tested but it is not a requirement, according to spokesman Peter Frangie.
Some private school parents said they would be willing to pay for online schooling but weren’t given the option. Randall Kopchak, whose daughter attends Sacred Heart Catholic School in Florissant, said he feels an obligation to the health of the community where neighbors attending Ferguson-Florissant public schools will be learning from home.
Some high-poverty school districts plan to partly open their buildings, including in Jennings where students in preschool through third grades can attend full time and older students may go to class in person two days a week.
“If education is a civil right, it was very difficult for me and my team to come to the conclusion to deny that civil right,†Superintendent Art McCoy said Thursday during a telebriefing with the St. Louis Regional Chamber. “So we took a position … to not close the doors of our schools.â€
Still, the narrative that low-income families are clamoring to return to school buildings has not played out in St. Louis — where parents advocating for full-time school have been loudest in more affluent suburban districts like Rockwood and Parkway.
In a survey of families in St. Louis Public Schools, the majority of African American parents wanted their children to learn at home, in part because the virus has spread disproportionately through Black communities.
Students in Normandy could choose to attend in person through fourth grade and virtually for older students under a proposal from Marcus Robinson, who took over as superintendent of the Normandy Schools Collaborative this summer. A majority of the district’s students did not engage in online learning when schools shut down in the spring.
Robinson said the main challenge this fall will be providing students with the health and wellness support that they get from school as well as the academics.
“We don’t live in a community that is rich in co-curricular spaces, so when they’re at home, they’re really at home,†Robinson said. “That sits with me. It’s the hardest part of the conversation, sitting down and saying, ‘I hate this as much as you hate it.’â€