Letter: ‘Remote learning’ isn’t good enough for our kids

Graphic by Lori Deaton

I am a parent to two young children in the Asheville City Schools district and I’m frustrated by the repeated closure of our city schools without an adequate plan for making up lost learning time. District leaders refer to these closures as “remote learning days,” but any working parent to young children will tell you that this phrase feels more like propaganda than reality. Even at its best, “remote learning” time spent reviewing concepts already covered in class is no substitute for time in the classroom.

In my opinion, more than one of these school closures was unnecessary, and some of these closures could have been half days at a minimum. I understand that we have teachers who live in rural areas, sometimes by choice and sometimes because they’re sorely underpaid and can’t afford to live in Asheville itself (another problem we should fix!). But I also don’t think we need every last flake to melt on the shadiest, north-facing slope in Western North Carolina before we reopen the schools after a run-of-the-mill winter weather event. If other employers are managing to keep their doors open despite less-than-ideal weather, then why can’t an institution as important as our public schools do the same?

It seems to me that our school district leaders are choosing to keep the schools closed until the risk of travel has been reduced to absolute zero. If we assume that ship has sailed and that we’re going to stick with this new, hypercautious approach to school closures, then we need to have a real conversation about the slow drip-drip of learning loss that this quick-to-close approach is inflicting on our kids — most of all, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and historically marginalized communities.

I refuse to believe that there isn’t a better response to freezing temperatures than so-called “remote learning.” Our school district leaders need to try harder for the children of Asheville. These kids need us to have their backs after everything they suffered at the hands of Helene, including a month of lost learning time. Let’s start by drawing a hard line that we won’t allow Mother Nature to steal even one more minute of classroom time from our kids, and then let’s take a close look at the school calendar and do whatever it takes to make that vision a reality.

— Carl Davis
Asheville

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2 thoughts on “Letter: ‘Remote learning’ isn’t good enough for our kids

  1. Robert McGee

    Perhaps it’s time to consider a more pragmatic schedule for our region that involves some summer instruction and a longer winter break?

  2. SK

    YES YES YES. Couldn’t agree more. The school cancellations are completely out of control and BCS simply doesn’t seem to care and continues to cancel school unilaterally in their far-too-wide school system, cheating our kids out of the real education they deserve. It’s sickening and needs to change, but BCS is so lazy and it’s just so much easier to continue to cancel and not be proactive and look for another solution.

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