Virginia legislators say this new law is helping keep schools open during Omicron surge - WJLA
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — After several snow days this week, an extended winter break will come to an end starting Monday for students in many local school districts.
But that return to the classroom is happening as COVID-19 cases are surging throughout the region.
Over the last few weeks, 7News has reported on schools in Maryland and the District that made temporary shifts to virtual learning amid rising COVID case numbers.
Virginia State Senator Siobhan Dunnavant (R - VA 12th District) believes a newly passed law is helping to keep kids in the classroom in the Commonwealth.
Dunnavant, who is also a doctor, introduced Senate Bill 1303 last year.
It requires Virginia school boards to provide in-person instruction to students, with limited exceptions.
"I mean, this is serious. This is not just academic loss, which is profound, this is about social and emotional stability," Dunnavant said. "The most important thing is that children must be in school, period. And everything else has to bend and accommodate to make that possible."
When the bill reached the House of Delegates, Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-VA 72nd District), who's also a teacher, says he worked to add in some exceptions and language specific to the coronavirus pandemic.
"That included measures such as ensuring school systems followed CDC mitigation strategies to the fullest extent possible, and measures like allowing individual schools to close if they have a high level of spread in that individual school," VanValkenburg explained.
The bill says that any decisions to close individual schools due to COVID must be made in collaboration with the local health department, and that virtual learning should happen "only for as long as it is necessary to address and ameliorate the level of transmission of COVID-19 in the school building".
Another exception: the bill allows for school districts to provide a virtual learning option to a student if their parent or legal guardian makes that request.
VanValkenburg also added in a clause that says the bill will expire on August 1, 2022.
"As I said at the time, we're not creating policy here. We're not trying to change the education system, we're trying to respond to a public health crisis," he told 7News.
The legislature approved the bill with bipartisan support, Governor Ralph Northam signed it into law last spring, and it took effect in July of 2021.
Dunnavant and VanValkenburg both believe it's helping to keep Virginia schools open amid the emergence of new coronavirus variants, such as Delta and Omicron.
"I definitely think it provides an obstacle to making bad decisions, like closing schools," Dunnavant said. "And I think that yes, this is absolutely a reason that schools in Virginia are working hard to stay open."
Some Northern Virginia families remain worried that schools could revert to virtual learning as a result of rising coronavirus case numbers.
Several local parent advocacy groups signed onto a letter that calls on "governors, mayors, superintendents, school boards, school administrators, teachers and parents to recognize the importance of in-person education" and keep schools open.
Dunnavant says she understands why parents are concerned, and she's heard from many of them in recent weeks.
She also said Virginia parents are a big part of the reason she introduced Senate Bill 1303 last year.
"I know there's kind of a foreboding worry as we look at Omicron and how we deal with it, so I think Senate Bill 1303 is going to be put to the test," Dunnavant said. " But now we have structure and guidelines, and we have an understanding that there has to be some flexibility, but that flexibility can't be abused and the priority for all of us has to be our children."
Fairfax County Public Schools just announced details of a plan to navigate the COVID surge and COVID-related staffing shortages over the next few weeks.
"We know that keeping our schools open is what is best for our students," Superintendent Dr. Scott Brabrand said in a video message sent to FCPS families.
In an emailed response to 7News, an FCPS spokesperson acknowledged that Senate Bill 1303 requires the school district to maintain in-person learning unless done so in consultation with the local health department:
In addition, local, state, and national health authorities are recommending in-person instruction without a wholesale return to virtual instruction in 2022.
On its website, FCPS outlines plans for classroom coverage, and says it could call on Central Office staff with instructional experience to help out if a substitute or another teacher is not available. Classes may also be grouped together when needed.
"These weeks ahead will challenge us all, and we need to work together," Brabrand said. "We must expect that things will change often, and we must be flexible."
VanValkenburg said he thinks that shows Senate Bill 1303 is helping to keep schools open.
"Across the Commonwealth, we are seeing central officers and superintendents and teaching staffs really work with flexibility to ensure all classrooms are covered and kids can stay in classes," he said.
What he and Dunnavant haven't seen in Virginia are widespread instances of schools moving to virtual learning, as has happened in other states.
"I think seeing those school closures elsewhere is evidence that this bill was necessary," said VanValkenburg. "There are a lot of teachers absent at my school today, as an example, because of Omicron....but kids are still in school, safely, and they're learning. Maybe not perfectly, but better than the alternative, which is virtual school."
source: https://wjla.com/news/local/we-want-kids-in-school-va-legislators-hope-this-new-law-will-help-during-omicron-surge
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