Frank Derfler is a retired publishing executive and writer who has lived in the Keys for 22 years. He is an active Rotarian, a Take Stock mentor, and a member of several community organizations. In May, he was asked to serve on the 50-person task force to consider how to reopen Monroe County Schools in the era of coronavirus.
Here is what he had to say in a question-and-answer session with the Keys Weekly:
How did you get involved with planning to reopen schools in Monroe County? I was invited in mid-May as a community representative. Even though I’ve been a substitute teacher, high school club sponsor, and Take Stock mentor for years, I’m viewed as a “civilian.” Part of my role, I guess, is to tell this story.
Since May, how has the planning process moved along? My background is corporate. In my experience, a one-hour meeting is a waste of 30 minutes. I was a little shocked when they spent the first hour of the first meeting of this task force in scheduling more meetings. But, I’ve got to say that there has been a lot of excellent work done from one end of the Keys to the other. It’s easy to be critical of education professionals. I certainly have been. But this experience has shown me that our school system is blessed with some really smart people who can do out-of-the box, yet detailed planning.
Out-of-the box? School buses are a critical and limited resource. The schedule for sharing buses between schools drives everything. How do you do social distancing on a school bus and still run any kind of schedule to support transportation to each school? When parents queue up in those drop-off lines, how do you get young students out of car seats without exposing staff to the interior of every car? Every home in the county does not have internet access. What is the role of the school system in providing internet access and equipment for e-learning? What do you do about students who won’t or can’t wear masks? Is that a disciplinary matter? Those are four of about a hundred sticky questions that this group has resolved. I’m not going to try to explain every alternative solution, but I will say that these folks have worked very hard at providing good and often innovative answers.
Being on the task force means reading a lot of plans and research from across the country and overseas. And a lot of “read and steal.” The Keys educators aren’t shy about borrowing good ideas from anywhere that can apply to our local conditions. I feel like I’ve been reading school opening directives, plans and research day and night every day since mid-May.
Well, what is your conclusion? Should parents plan to send their kids to school? The school system must offer alternatives that include brick-and-mortar classrooms. The task force has good plans to do that with every mask and social-distancing factor included. There are very good studies from Germany and Denmark showing that opening schoolrooms does not cause a spike in infections in the general population. But, every family has to make their own decisions based on their own situations. There are plans for several family options from the task force.
Personally, I am a fan of home-schooling with e-learning. I home-schooled my grandson and it was wonderful. If your family has the resources to do that, then it could work for you. You can partner with another family to share the work.
One problem we will all face is “Kill Grandma with a kiss.” Everyone in the community must understand that any attempt to return to normal, whether schools or restaurants or charter fishing boats, means simultaneously protecting the at-risk population. If you send your child to school, don’t count on grandma for child care.
FILL OUT THE SURVEY
The Monroe County School District is asking parents to fill out a short survey, called the Intent to Return. It can be found on the district’s website, floridakeysschools.com. There is also a link on the blog, mcsd-fl.blogspot.com. Parents actually have three choices on the form: returning children to class – whatever form that may take; Monroe Virtual School or a choice to put their child in another form of school, such as Florida Virtual School.
