Up for debate: Back to school during COVID-19

Jul. 18--PEORIA -- Idella Marizetts really wants to send her 6-year old son, Rafel, back to school, but she won't until the threat of COVID-19 is contained.

Marizetts, 73, has leukemia and a compromised immune system. She also worries what COVID-19 might do to Rafel. Born prematurely, Rafel was just five-day-old when Marizetts brought him home.

"He is like most kids who are autistic, they are smart," said Marizetts. "He scares you, he's so smart."

Rafel needs to be in school where he's stimulated and learning daily, but his mother said she just can't take that chance.

"I'm sad not to be able to send him back to school. If they could assure me that he would be OK, and I would be OK, then I would send him back. But until then I really can't," she said.

Marizetts isn't the only area senior concerned that the kids they are raising might bring COVID-19 home if allowed to return to school. East Peoria resident Tammy Glass, who turns 60 this year, is raising her two grandchildren.

"I know they need to go back for social skills. My kids want to go back, but honestly if they force our kids to go back I'm not gonna send them," she said. "We're the only ones raising the kids, what would happen to them if something happened to us?"

Glass feels so strongly about the issue she's contacted everyone in charge.

"I've called the governor's office in Springfield and left a message, I called the Illinois Department of Education, and I called our school superintendent and left my opinion too," she said. "I feel that strongly, oh yes."

Marizetts and Glass are two of many who responded to a Journal Star callout asking for comment about the impending re-opening of schools closed early last spring when COVID-19 came to town. Vibrant debate ensued on Facebook, and both sides of the issue were well represented.

"Not worried. Kids are at lower risk and schools are already filled with germs despite the precautions you may take. If my kids had underlying conditions then I might be more cautious," said Jennifer Becke, a Chillicothe resident and mother of two.

Lacy Cramblet, a stay-at-home mother from Canton, expressed concern for what kids are missing by not being in school.

"Get these kids out of their homes, let them socialize! There's more to school than just learning from books, they need to learn how to act in public situations," she wrote. "Parents are supposed to give their children the tools, but they have to interact with others in order to learn how to use them. For example, you can have someone verbally tell you how to fix a car, but it's much more effective for you to physically get your hands on it and learn how it works."

Jennie Pollitt responded to Cramblet, relating another side of the issue.

"As a teacher, I want them back in the classroom so much! I want my days with my kiddos and having fun learning! But with all the restrictions required for in person learning...they will not get to socialize, they will not get to play together, learn together, or really enjoy school," she wrote. "They will be nervous/scared all day and I don't want my small kiddos to feel that day after day.... we shouldn't be going back until it's safe to be without so many restrictions."

Teachers were well-represented among those concerned about the negative effects of re-opening schools during a pandemic. Several who voiced their concerns in emails asked to remain anonymous, fearing backlash for publicly expressing their concerns.

Peoria resident Shannon Rogers is a teacher-in-training whose novice teacher experience was cut short when schools were shut down. COVID-19 has added a lot of stress to what is already a stressful situation for most new teachers.

"I am worried about the safety of the children in my class, I am concerned about keeping them in masks all day long, and sad that they may not get recess because of social distancing," Rogers said. "District 150 has a lot of students and is often short on teachers, so I am also concerned about social distancing in the classroom."

Originally, Rogers was supposed to find out where she would be working well before the start of school so she could have some time to meet parents and prepare for teaching this year. But because everything is so up-in-the-air, she still doesn't know what district she'll be working in even as school is poised to begin. The uncertainty has added to the stress.

"I kind of feel like we're being thrown into the wolves," she said.

And while there were numerous folks who talked about the need to keep everyone safe, one respondent was willing to take a chance so his beloved granddaughter won't miss out on her senior year at Washington Community High School.

George Tobin, 76, has congestive heart failure. His daughter and granddaughter were by his side this spring as the family weathered the quarantine together.

"We all know it's dangerous, but I know my granddaughter. She's gonna be a senior, and when she was a junior she had to do it on a computer and she hated it because she wasn't around her friends and she couldn't do any of the activities," he said. "It's darned if we do, darned if we don't. Any other time I would say no, but I'm saying yes. Because it's her last year and the kids in her grade don't need to be cheated out. She's a lot younger than I am and I want her to graduate. I got her mom through high school in Washington, and I want to get her through too."

Leslie Renken can be reached at 270-8503 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter.com/LeslieRenken, and subscribe to her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

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