The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes to everyday life. One of the biggest changes that have occurred is the way children attend school. Before Covid, the vast majority of children attended public schools while others attended private schools or were homeschooled. When the pandemic first went into effect and stay-at-home orders began being issued, suddenly all children were learning from home.
Remote learning has been a challenge for educators, parents and students alike. It has been a particular problem in rural areas such as Summers County. As the school year trudges on, more and more parents are expressing concerns.
The number one problem that families are facing is a lack of reliable internet. A large part of the county is incredibly rural, which means little to no access to the internet. There are few options available and even those are limited. While some public hotspots are being provided for students, it is not always possible for them to get to the designated area when the hotspot is available.
Many families rely on cellular data for their internet and remote learning has increased usage exponentially. One mother, Kimberly Hanna says her cellphone bill has increased by $100 since remote learning began. The only internet service provider in her area, as well as most of the outlying areas of the county, is Frontier which has been maxed out for new accounts, according to Hanna. Frontier did not respond as of press time to questions in regards to the issue of maxed out new accounts.
“At least that’s what we have been told,” Kimberly Hanna said.
Another local mother, Melissa Rollyson-Price said, “we have no internet because we live so far out. We bought a wireless router and it’s horrible.”
Even those who have reliable internet connections are struggling with the ability to successfully turn in assignments. According to Karen Belcher, her daughter is doing her work and submitting it, but it never gets to the teachers.
She said her daughter “cries because she does her work and they don’t get it.”
Another local family in the Hilldale area is having the same problem. Completed work does not reach the teachers.
Another issue many families face is the inability to stay in touch with teachers. Some teachers are only available via email and due to the lack of internet connection, it is difficult to keep in contact.
Kimberly Hanna says another serious concern is assignment requirements for her daughter with an IEP (Individualized Education Program).
“I emailed at the beginning of the year once assignments started coming in about how I didn’t think things were being followed as to how the IEP stated,” Hanna said. “And I was told they were and that was the last of it.”
She went on to say that her child with the IEP currently has 80 assignments and “it’s not even midterms.”
Summers County Superintendent David Warvel addressed these concerns and more in a recent interview. He said any family that is having a problem with turning in assignments needs to contact him ASAP.
“They need to let us know. That is why I am meeting with the students …. to get honest feedback to see how it is going,” Warvel said. “We should be doing a better job at this point in receiving and delivering information, I don’t know what’s the hang-up there.”
In terms of internet access, he said “the teachers are supposed to work with the parents on that.”
He continued by saying, “We have put up eight hotspots to try to help out with that and every kid has a laptop that was given to them to use this school year. So, when they go to a hotspot it should download information from the school because of the school computer and the wireless internet connectivity that we have provided to make it user friendly.”
For anyone that is having problems with IEPs or communication with teachers, Warvel recommends setting up a meeting with the teacher and “if the teacher is not responding follow the chain of command and contact the principal and if the principal doesn’t follow through, then that is where I get involved. The chain of command should be started with the teacher.”
Warvel concluded by saying, “We have to follow the IEP, that is just state code and Federal code by the way.”
Even though many families are struggling with the current school situation, some have had an excellent experience.
One positive example comes from Kristina Kellan whose daughter is enrolled in the early headstart program. She said, “they have went above and beyond to make things easy and safe for students and families.”
Kellan continued, “with winter coming there needs to be a few adjustments to how they sign kids in and out to avoid keeping staff, students and parents waiting in the cold, but other than that I’m actually impressed.”
Another positive experience comes from Jessica Connor whose daughter is enrolled in Pipestem Christian Academy.
“It’s been great so far. She loves it and probably won’t ever go back to public school,” Connor said. “She [her daughter] did NOT want to go to start, but loves it now.”
With the continuation of the pandemic, there is no return to normalcy in sight. Students, parents and educators are all frustrated with the issues they face daily. As time goes on, there is hope that the system will improve and frustrations will ease.
