Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 minutes ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

19 hours ago

‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Actor Michael Madsen Dies at 67

20 hours ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

20 hours ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

21 hours ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

24 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

1 day ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

1 day ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

1 day ago
Some US Schools Are Pulling the Plug on Distance Learning
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
May 14, 2020

Share

CUSSETA, Ga. — After the Chattahoochee County school district called an early end to the school year, seniors lined up one day last week to complete their graduation paperwork. Students who hadn’t seen each other since in-person classes ended abruptly in March amid the coronavirus outbreak commiserated over all they’ve missed out on, including the prom and a senior class trip.

Some also wondered about what they may have lost academically.

“We didn’t cut any class time out. There was no reason to pile more on our parents and students.” — Chattahoochee County High School Principal Josh Kemp

“Honestly, remote learning, I don’t think was my favorite thing,” said 18-year-old Isabella Branson. “It’s kind of hard to stay motivated when you don’t have anything to look forward to and you don’t see your friends.”

The small district in rural Georgia is among many around the U.S. that have pulled the plug on distance learning, all citing familiar reasons. It’s too stressful, the lack of devices and internet access is too much to overcome, and what students get from it just isn’t worth the struggle.

In Georgia, where the school year is ending early for one of every 10 students, many district leaders say the final weeks of the school year would have been dedicated anyway to preparing for and taking standardized tests that are now canceled. The governor and state schools superintendent who have moved to dismantle parts of Georgia’s high-stakes testing system have said they are not opposed to fewer instructional days.

“We didn’t cut any class time out,” Chattahoochee County High School Principal Josh Kemp said. “There was no reason to pile more on our parents and students.”

But Kemp and others also acknowledge that there was material that wasn’t covered and that teachers will have to find a way to fold it in next year for returning students.

“They weren’t able to get all the standards,” said Tammy Bailey, the science department chair at the high school. “I think there will be a gap.”

Other Districts Around the Country Are Ending the School Year Early

Classes had been scheduled to run through May 21 but remote instruction instead came to an end March 8 in the Chattahoochee County school district. A majority of the high school’s 450 students live on the U.S. Army’s sprawling Fort Benning, while a minority live around the small town of Cusseta. Only 59% of households in the district have access to broadband internet at home.

Other districts around the country that are ending the school year early including Omaha and some nearby suburban districts in Nebraska, Washington, D.C., and some in New Hampshire. Officials say they want to relieve stress on families, ease problems for students without internet access, and focus on preparing for a fresh start in the fall.

The last three weeks of school is “probably not prime instructional time,” said Andrew McEachin, an education policy researcher at RAND Corp. But he said that kids in struggling households may suffer most from being cut off from the normalcy of a school routine.

“I think the biggest thing about cutting a school year short is not what it does on average, but what it does on equity,” McEachin said. “Even if school isn’t working as well as we want it to be, that may be the best access low income students have to learning.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said on April 16 that he trusted schools to set their calendars and the following day, state Superintendent Richard Woods wrote that schools’ focus during the pandemic should “not be on test scores” but on making sure children are “healthy, safe and nurtured.”

Seniors Were Stressing About Being Able to Bring Only Four Guests to a Socially-Distant Graduation

But Michael O’Sullivan, executive director of GeorgiaCAN, a group that supports Georgia’s testing system, says this spring has been a preview of a “zero-accountability world.”

Some schools in Georgia are making plans to combat academic losses from the year, such as beefed-up summer sessions. The Scintilla Charter Academy in Valdosta is aiming to start the next school year on July 23, to make up the time it lost when it ended on April 30.

“It’s the easy way out of a very difficult situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be good for kids,” O’Sullivan said.

Some schools in Georgia are making plans to combat academic losses from the year, such as beefed-up summer sessions. The Scintilla Charter Academy in Valdosta is aiming to start the next school year on July 23, to make up the time it lost when it ended on April 30.

Scintilla Dean of School Mandy Avera said her families were “stressed and overwhelmed” by online learning. The school covers kindergarten through sixth grade, and Avera is among educators who question whether younger children can successfully acquire critical skills like learning to read without a face-to-face interaction with a teacher.

“It just created a situation where we just can’t be as interactive as we like to be at Scintilla,” Avera said. “Kindergartners don’t understand why they’re at home. They don’t understand why they can’t go back to school and see their friends and see their teachers.”

Back in Cusseta, some seniors were stressing about being able to bring only four guests to a socially-distant graduation ceremony, while others were disregarding imposed distance to hug and gossip. But Chattahoochee County Superintendent Kristi Brooks was already trying to think about the next school year, despite uncertainty on whether in-person classes will resume.

“They’re going to have missed 60 days of instruction,” Brooks said “When we come back for the fall, we’re going to have to pick up in some basic areas.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

DON'T MISS

RIP John Harris: Fresno County Rancher, Racehorse Breeder Was a Visionary Leader Who Leaves a ‘Profound Legacy’

DON'T MISS

Valadao, Costa Spar on What Passage of Trump’s Bill Means for Medicaid Recipients

DON'T MISS

US Military Says 200 Marines Being Sent to Support ICE in Florida

DON'T MISS

Boeing Secures $2.8 Billion US Satellite Contract

DON'T MISS

Kaweah Health Names Its New Chief Nurse. She’s From Texas

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Say At-Risk Missing Woman Found Dead in Mariposa County

DON'T MISS

Over 100 Former Senior Officials Warn Against Planned Staff Cuts at US State Department

DON'T MISS

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

UP NEXT

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

UP NEXT

Tesla Executive, Elon Musk Confidant Leaves EV Maker, Bloomberg News Reports

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

13 minutes ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

19 minutes ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

23 minutes ago

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

27 minutes ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

35 minutes ago

Fresno Police to Conduct DUI Checkpoint on Fourth of July, Boost Holiday Patrols

3 hours ago

July 4th Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Founding Fathers

4 hours ago

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

16 hours ago

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

17 hours ago

RIP John Harris: Fresno County Rancher, Racehorse Breeder Was a Visionary Leader Who Leaves a ‘Profound Legacy’

17 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Authorities are investigating the suspicious death of a man found along a rural road west of Fresno. Deputies responded around 7 a.m. Wednes...

1 minute ago

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
1 minute ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Israel Builds a Fence Around the West Bank
2 minutes ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

A view of the site of Thursday's Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, July 4, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)
8 minutes ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

Rachelle Maria Blanco is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 4, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
13 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 4, 2025. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)
19 minutes ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

FILE PHOTO: Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. enters the ring before his fight against Jake Paul at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, U.S. June 28, 2025. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images via REUTERS. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES/File Photo
23 minutes ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. (Reuters File)
27 minutes ago

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

Trump Speaks in Iowa
35 minutes ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend