As school officials across the national continue with how to handle the opening of the new school year amid an ongoing pandemic, a new national survey shows a majority of parents are worried about sending their kids back into classrooms.
According to the survey done by Consumer Reports, 62% of Americans with school-aged children said they are either “not too confident” or “not confident at all” that schools can prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students, teachers and staff if school buildings are reopened.
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer research, testing, and advocacy organization, polled 2,031 people across the nation between July 9 and July 20. The survey included questions on the pandemic’s impact on consumers’ attitudes, behaviors and finances.
In general, the survey found that people are growing increasingly concerned about the potential threat the novel coronavirus poses to their communities.
When asking all respondents — those with school-aged children and those without — about how school should resume this fall, 35% said they think their local schools should stayed closed and students should take all of their classes online. Thirty-three percent said they’d prefer a mix of in-person and online classes.
Only 19% said they think schools should fully reopen.
“Like many other issues involving COVID-19, we see deep divides among Americans on the question of if and how schools should reopen, reflected in the difficulty school administrators are facing finding consensus among local parents on the best path forward,” said Kristen Purcell, Consumer Reports’ chief research officer. “And this does not just affect families with school-aged children, it’s a community health issue. Americans without school-aged children at home are also divided on how schools should reopen.”
Opinions on whether schools should be reopened have a racial divide, the survey shows.
While 24% of white respondents said they’d prefer in-person classes, only 10% of Latino and 7% of Black respondents picked that choice. In contrast, 57% of Black respondents and 53% of Latino respondents said they would prefer all classes to be online, compared to only 25% of white respondents.
The top choice for white respondents (37%) was a hybrid model of some in-person and some online courses.
In Berks County, plans to reopen schools vary.
Some school districts, such as Tulpehocken and Wyomissing, will use both online and in-person instruction. At least three — Antietam, Exeter and Reading — will start the year online-only.
Others, including Daniel Boone, Gov. Mifflin and Schuylkill Valley, plan to reopen in full. Several districts have not yet approved their plans for the fall.
Rising concern
Along with worries about reopening schools, the survey showed that Americans have an overall increasing level of concern about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eighty-two percent of respondents said they continue to be concerned about the spread of the disease in their communities, with 53% saying they are “very concerned.”
They “very concerned” response rate was a big increase from the responses to the question when asked in May and June, both of which saw only 41% of respondents selecting that choice.
That rising level of concern appears to coincide with an increase in people following safety measures.
The survey shows that 73% of people say they now “always” wear a mask in indoor public spaces, up from 54% in June.
