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—Dr. Andy Wilhelm on the ever-shifting challenges of treating COVID-19, pages 18-20
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Mitigating COVID-19 Risk if School Reopens courtesy JPS
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elicia Donaldson’s granddaughter Anajah has not taken well to online learning since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Jackson. The Bates Elementary School student stays with her grandmother at Woodville Apartments in Jackson, and was “homeschooled” after the shutdown of schools from mid-March as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. But the being forced to stay and participate in classes at home was challenging for Anajah, who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Donaldson said Anajah found the online-centric studies not engaging enough. “(She has) nothing to do. We don’t let them go out too much,” Felicia said. Due to Anajah’s ADHD, Donaldson is afraid of how Anajah is going to cope when she goes back to school and for her safety because of COVD-19. She doesn’t want her to stop her schooling, so she faces a dilemma. “The only issue I have is the mask issue. She has ADHD, and she is not going (to) put on a mask all day,” Anajah’s grandmother said. “She’s not going to keep on the mask. She will take it off; she’s going to get in trouble. Because she has ADHD, she’s not going to just sit there and not move. Kids with a disability (like hers) are not going to sit in one spot and stay 6 feet from the other kids because they are going to get up and move around.” During the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, with school closed, Anajah was fortunate to have computer and internet access at home to continue with online remote learning. “She got on the computer and did her work,” Donaldson said. “She did pretty good, but you have to stay on the computer with her for that amount of time.” That was especially challenging for her, and it means having Anajah at home with her for her studies is something she would like to avoid if she can. Donaldson had to combine helping Anajah with her job at Veterans Affairs, to-
JPS Superintendent Errick Greene laid out the reopening plans for public schools in Jackson on June 16—both in-school and distance-learning options.
gether with taking care of the other children who live with her. Mississippi Department of Health data do not indicate a COVID19-fatality among children under 18, but 43 have been hospitalized. They tend to do better than other age groups. Donaldson, nevertheless, has a simple demand that the school is made safe for the kids when they go back. “I am kind of nervous about sending her back,” Felicia said. “I do want her to complete her education, but when it comes to this coronavirus, we don’t know where other kids are coming from.”
Safe Reopening A Must As with Donaldson, the safe fall return of students to schools occupied the minds of protesters gathered last month before the Mississippi Governor’s mansion. The Institute for Democratic Education in America organized the sparsely attended protest. The group said n its website at democraticeducation.org that its recent efforts include offering anti-racism courses for white educators, and stated that it seeks to change the narrative, practice, and policy around public education, in a quest for education justice.
Albert Sykes, the executive director of IDEA, said the low turnout was possibly because of the short notice for the protest. The whole thing was put together under one week. But there is another plausible reason for the low turnout. Sykes said Mississippi had just recorded a spike in COVID-19 cases, which unsettled people and made them wary of leaving their homes and gathering together indoors or outdoors. Sykes wants to add to the conversation on reopening schools and to draw attention to the problem of educational inequality the pandemic exacerbates and exposes. “Since our schools are closed, there are students who don’t have access to the internet, who don’t have smartphones and are not able to do virtual learning,” he said. “We also have students who are not able to make it to the feeding programs and the work packets’ pick-up site for things that keep them engaged (outside) school.” Sykes says his organization seeks full education funding, relevant curriculum, equipment, as well as better teacher pay and safety for the students when they resume. He wants the schools sanitized, clean and ready to serve the children. Mississippi Association of Educators President Erica Jones, who attended the IDEA protest, wants focus on creating safe and healthy classrooms for educators and students, with personal protective equipment and training in distance learning. Jones said the number of COVID19 cases in Mississippi is a cause for concern, and she does not want educators and students sent to unsafe spaces. A Computer Per JPS Student Jackson Public School Board Vice President Edward Sivak has two children in Jackson Public schools. He appeared before the Jackson City Council on July 7 for re-appointment to the board for a new term of five years. In his remarks, he revealed some of the reopening plans of the board. “I anticipate that the reopening will be measured, with equipment, with personal more JPS Reopening, p 8
July 22 - August 4, 2020 • jfp.ms
by Kayode Crown
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