Parents urged to keep children out of school as coronavirus threat grows

37 states have closed all schools; President Trump says students should continue instruction at home.

March 17, 2020

2 min read

With most schools in the United States closed, millions of parents are trying to manage their children's education from the confines of home.

USA Today reports that a significant obstacle to carry out the abrupt turn to home-based education is that school districts and states vary wildly in their ability to deliver educational services at a time of social isolation.

President Donald Trump on Monday called for limiting gatherings of people to no more than 10 for the next 15 days and suggested school-age students take classes from home. Although it has not called for all schools to close, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged people to avoid crowds of 50 or more people.

As of Monday night: 37 states have decided to close public schools, Education Week reports. Combined with district closures in other states, at least 72,000 U.S. schools are closed, are scheduled to close, or were closed and later reopened.

Traditional schools that stay open may be technically defying government recommendations. But they lack firm guidelines.

"Nobody is taking the bull by the horns and saying, 'This is what we're doing or should be doing,' " said Dan Domenech, head of the American Association of School Superintendents. "We need more guidance."

Nevertheless, a nationwide shutdown of schools looks inevitable The nation's schools could be closed not just for a couple weeks, but for months.

That means, ready or not, schools will have to embrace online education.

“This is a whole new world around online learning, even for very sophisticated districts," said Keith Krueger, the CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, a nonprofit that connects technology officers at schools.

Online learning is easier for middle and high school students, who are more independent, Krueger said. Plus, many elementary students don't have easy access to a device for online learning.

"At the lowest grades, (online learning) is probably never going to work," he added.

Also, Krueger said, only about half of districts report they can provide a laptop for every child. That means students who either don't own a device on which to do schoolwork, or who don't have access to broadband internet, will be significantly disadvantaged.