When I first heard of a local district’s plan to reopen schools in the fall, with seemingly little in the way of mitigation efforts beyond the use of face masks, I was utterly appalled. I openly proclaimed that I would never trust my children in the hands of a district that so flippantly responds to a global pandemic — how could I trust the judgment of that administration with the education of my children when I can’t even trust them with my child’s life?

Then slowly, more districts in the area, including my own, released their pandemic response plans for the upcoming school year, and I found myself in shock. This lack of response, this bare minimum in the way of changes to protect our children, seems to be a pretty universal response in our region. And I thought to myself, what is going on?

How, when we know we are facing a global pandemic of a virus that even experts are frantically working to try to understand, are we throwing our children to the wolves, like guinea pigs, like an experiment that will, undoubtedly, give us the missing data on how this virus spreads among and affects the health of our youth? How, when the numbers of reported cases continue to climb in our county, are the leaders of our schools sitting back with such a laissez-faire approach to the academic year?

As a parent, who so desperately wants to give my children some sense of normalcy during these unprecedented times, I feel so let down by our school district, which forces me to question if it is safe to send my child back to school at all.

Simple measures could be taken to protect our children; an easy solution, like dividing the student body in half and alternating days of attendance or adopting an am/pm schedule, would drastically reduce the number of bodies in a building at one time, which could go a long way in preventing spread. Closing cafeterias, rethinking the way we approach the school day — these could have drastic, positive effects in terms of prevention and containment.

Instead, we see plans of maintaining class sizes that average around 25 students, packing 1,200 students into the building at one time. I see no real efforts at ingenuity or creative problem-solving whatsoever. Which begs the question – do our districts just not care about the well-being of our students? I have a hard time believing that. So what gives?

I understand that many parents want their children back in school full time. But why, pray tell, are our districts pandering to the opinions of parents instead of heeding the advice of experts? The only conclusion I’m left with is that the decision to reopen schools is politically and economically motivated. Our children deserve better.

And so do our families — and teachers. They deserve better than a system that has largely been used as a Band-Aid for societal flaws. Twenty-two million children are hungry? Let’s feed them at school with the National School Lunch Program. History of gun violence on school grounds? Ask teachers to sacrifice themselves for the sake of protecting our children. Both parents have to work in order to meet the basic needs of their family? Let’s send kids to school full time, despite a global pandemic, because parents have to work. Parents deserve better than a system that forces them to choose between putting food on the table and protecting their children from a riddling virus.

If nothing else good comes from this pandemic, at least it has shined a light on the cracks in our system. Unfortunately, if the local school districts’ reopening plans are any indication, I have little belief that those cracks will ever be mended. This is an adults’ world, and kids are just living in it. This is the legacy we are leaving our children … well, what is left of our children after this pandemic has run its course.

Sarah Charlier-Vermeire of Collier is a parent of two children.

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