As schools across the country return to in-person learning, parents are divided. We thought the pandemic was over and, suddenly, with the surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19, it’s not. We thought school closures were history and we’d return to in-school learning and, suddenly, some parents are deciding to keep their children home for reasons that run the gamut from rising infection rates, the politicization of face masks, and vaccine mandates.
In many cases, state and school leaders are responding to this spectrum of comfort levels. According to CRPE, The Center for Reinventing Education, from July 29-August 12 the number of districts offering students a virtual alternative to in-person learning nearly doubled, from 41 to 79 percent.