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OPINION
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Fauquier Times | September 30, 2020
A letter from Beijing: Returning students to classrooms in November will cause more stress and chaos My dear American comrades I’m wrapped up in a warm blanket with my face glued to the computer screen writing my fifth essay of the week; it’s just another Wednesday afternoon of online learning. Little did I know that in the next five minutes, the Fauquier County Public Schools School Board was going to blow up the community with the unexpected announcement that schools would reopen Nov. 9. Needless to say, my brain was running around in circles trying to get some sort of grasp on what was going on. The transition from in-person to online school was difficult, so I can’t only imagine how the transition from online learning to hybrid in-person learning will be. Of course, students need to come out of their reclusive shells and begin transitioning back to school eventually. However, I’m not sure the “throwing them to the wolves” method that the school board seems to be using is the best choice. Students and teachers went from having about three months to prepare for online learning to only one month. Lesson plans, classroom setups, deadlines, class supplies and so much more will have to change and no warning was given to prepare. The safety and health of students and school staff, as well as their loved ones, should not be considered “experimental.” So far, it feels as if the school board is throwing us in and saying, “let’s see what happens.” While they have outlined some guidelines, such as required social distancing and face coverings, little has been revealed about how this will be executed and enforced. Issues of safety should not be solved along the way. How will sanitary conditions be maintained throughout the in-person days -- and not just on the singular “cleaning day” on Wednesday -- and to what extent is mask-wearing required, are questions that the school board needs to answer and be transparent about from the start. While students may opt for virtual learning if they share these concerns, the safety of the students and faculty who do choose to return must be ensured, regardless of whether they care or not about it. Speaking of the virtual learning option, this alternative provides little benefits alongside safety. In the current online classes, teachers are focused on teaching and assisting the students behind the computer screen. Under the hybrid model, teachers will be working with their in-person students, and the virtual students may only get a window to
EDITOR OF THE FAUQUIER HIGH SCHOOL FALCONER
RACHEL SINGLETON see what is going on, but no help or interaction with the teacher. Then, when these virtual students hope to receive help on the asynchronous days, teachers will be focused on teaching their other set of in-person students. The whole timing of this return is even more mind boggling. When the school board skimmed the list of potential dates to return, why did they see a month that will be in the middle of flu season and say, “Ah yes, perfect.”? Additionally, FCPS is experiencing staff shortages in multiple areas including teachers, nurses, bus drivers and substitutes. If this shortage wasn’t already hitting hard, it most definitely will if the school board moves forward with this plan. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the crucial need for some students to return to school. I see this need every day in my brother, who has an Individualized Education Program. His face is leaned into the computer screen as he attempts to concentrate on each assignment, some of which don’t always get done because of his struggle to adapt to online learning. My brother needs to return to in-person learning, as do many other students with IEPs, learning disabilities or other challenges such as mental health issues or difficult home lives. However, the needs of these students shouldn’t be the reason to pick up the pace on our return. If the school board was so concerned with this, they should have devised a plan for these specific students, not the entire FCPS student population. If the school board had made Nov. 9 the original school return date, then maybe they could have minimized the backlash to this decision. Part of the reason for this eruption of fear is the lack of preparation and warning for the return. While it is important that schools transition back into in-person learning eventually, the return must be handled with care and consideration of safety. With this in mind, the school board’s impulsive and unsympathetic decision making has, so far, caused more stress and chaos than the intended calm transition.
(The following letter is satire.) We are informed that you are upset by the thousands of American lives that have been needlessly lost due to COVID-19. We understand your outrage but would ask that you understand the position of The People’s Republic of China. We would first like to state that launching a global pandemic was never our intent. Its release was an accident and not the result of military calculation. Yes, it is true that our state labs are studying plague viruses; but we only seek to be prudent in an adversarial world. We must be prepared in case the next world conflict is fought on biological battlefields. And yet you may ask, “Why didn’t you inform the international community of a potentially lethal biological threat?” Well, quite simply, it was not in our interest to do so. And besides, we merely did what your president would have done; we put our country first regardless of the consequence to others. Admittedly, not informing an unsuspecting world population was morally reprehensible, but moral consequence does not guide our actions. We, like the U.S., were not fully prepared to deal with COVID-19 and needed to cover up its spread to avoid panic and gain time to devise a response. But, unlike the U.S., once the potential of the treat was realized, we acted quickly and decisively on a national scale. We imposed strict civil discipline and implemented a local/global misinformation campaign. Controlling the populace eventually enabled us to control the spread of the virus. Controlling the messaging gained us the time to amass the necessary resources from domestic and international markets. Additionally, we needed time to complete many international objectives while positioning ourselves to best absorb the likely fallout. We were successful in this course; you took a different path and were not. Consequently, The People’s Republic of China has weathered the first wave of COVID-19. As of the
date of this letter, China has recorded 85,000 cases with only 4,600 deaths as compared with 6.8 million cases in the U.S. and 200,000 deaths. Also of note, China represents 18% of the world population but less than 1% of COVID-19 deaths, while the U.S. has only 4% of the world population but accounts for 22% of global deaths. Those numbers speak for themselves. It is a pity that your president delayed acting with a sense of urgency even though all the early warning signs were evident. He ignored the science, issued partial travel bans, and failed to mobilize a unified national response. Instead, he politicized a national emergency and continually downplayed the peril all the while knowing the severity of the threat. We do not fully understand this strategy but suspect that it has something to do with your upcoming elections. We do, however, understand that power is everything. And finally, we note your president would like to assign sole blame for the global pandemic directly to us by calling it the China Virus. Let us assure you this added recognition is not necessary. If, however, you still desire to rename Covid-19, then we humbly suggest it far more appropriate to relabel it the Trump Virus … after all, the U.S. leads the world in the number of cases and deaths. Again, we regret our part as the origin of the contagion. We hope this letter helps assuage the anger you must feel toward us. We also hope that you will come to realize that you must assume some responsibility for not insisting upon the truth and demanding more substantive action from your government. If you had done so, it could have resulted in less severe outcomes … certainly for the victims and their families. Thank you for your understanding. Sincerely, Xi Jinping State Chairperson The People’s Republic of China PS: AS DICTATED TO DON BACHMANN, Marshall
On courthouse Black Lives Matter vigils How about if we schedule an All Lives Matter vigil in front of the courthouse: Black, White, Yellow, Red, Brown and Blue. Are we not all children of God? Also, a note to ponder: Nothing
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says "unity" like playing a separate national anthem for Black people and a separate national anthem for white people at NFL games.
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