Frustrated Parents Start to Protest Against School Reopening Pace

Many parents nationwide are frustrated about the slow speed of school reopening. They are now threatening to mobilize and sue government officials. 

Students in the United States have been engaging in a full schedule distance learning program since schools closed due to COVID-19 in March of last year. However, students continuously show different negative impacts. Parents are now frustrated as they believe that online education is detrimental to their children's mental health and that they must return to the classroom with COVID-19 safety precautions. 

READ: Report: CDC's School Reopening Guidelines Could Keep 90% of Schools Partially Closed

However, the recently released CDC guidelines on school reopening tie the hands of school leaders and teachers especially considering the levels of transmission. They are also taking into full consideration the risk that students and personnel will be exposed to as schools reopen.

While some parents and officials oppose the idea of school reopening to allow in-person teaching, many have requested more rigorous precautions and coronavirus vaccines for teachers before they can return to the classroom.

ALSO READ: On School Reopening: Should You Let Your Kids Go Back to School? An Analyst Helps You Decide

Frustrated parents now rebel against the slow speed of school reopening

If their children's schedules continue to be interrupted this fall, some parents make contingency plans to move, homeschool, or turn to private education — a real possibility as some local school leaders and teachers' groups call for the continuation of distance learning even with aggressive virus prevention steps.

Some parents are suing, demonstrating at town hearings, forming political action groups, and running for school board positions. While most people are aware of the virus's risks, they believe that schools should reopen soon per the CDC guidelines.

An example is Aquené Tyler, a hairstylist in North Philadelphia and mother of a 9-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Tyler has long been unhappy with her neighborhood's public schools. Her children seem sad since the schools closed, and Mya, who is in eighth grade, seems frustrated and distracted by her schoolwork. She has also been consulting with a counselor over the phone.

As a result, Tyler is considering a dramatic change: relocating her family to Florida, where the Republican-controlled state government has required that all school districts have in-person instruction five days a week. In Sarasota, a niece is enrolled in a traditional public school with athletics, arts, and music.

READ MORE: On School Reopening Debate: Parents and Teachers Pit Against Each Other

Meanwhile, in Pasadena last month, a group of 35 parents organized a "Put Kids First" rally in front of Pasadena City Hall with "save our students" signs to call on city officials to reopen schools after Los Angeles County met the state's threshold to reopen elementary schools safely.

Parents say that social interactions are necessary for students, especially since most have been stuck in their rooms for nearly a year.

Erika Foy said, "Our Zoom learning cannot teach kids basic, developmental processes they need to go through." Foy is a community member who has a daughter in high school. She also helped organize the protest and several others over the past few months. 

Meanwhile, in Arlington, around 150 people attended the Arlington Parents for Education rally at Quincy Park, where parents and students shared their virtual learning experiences. Arlington Public Schools families are requesting that their children return to the classroom after more than 300 days of virtual learning.

Although many parents said they support their teachers and respect their work this school year, they push that it may be time for more students to return to school.