School Closure: Impending Doom or Cause for Celebration?

Across the world schools are closing due to rising COVID-19 cases; the US and Southwest Missouri are no exception. As of January 21, 62 Missouri school districts were temporarily closed due to Covid.

12% of the state’s school districts, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, were closed because of the virus. This includes Springfield Public Schools (SPS) and many of the schools surrounding Fair Grove.

Ethan Gravely (12), a student at Central High School, said, “School for me has been closed since Wednesday 19th, 2022, and we will be going virtual on Tuesday 25th, 2022. The time in between those days have been considered as “snow days” for us.”

It is reminiscent of March 2020, when students left for spring break and never came back. However there are noticeable differences, one being that there is no uniformity in who has to close, how long these closures last, and what they consist of. Every district has to make their own decisions in the interest of their unique students and community.

School closure is also an issue of staffing. With so many teachers out for Covid, accompanied by a sub shortage and bus driver shortage, schools have no choice but to close. Gravely stated, “I know quite a lot of people, both teachers and students, who have Covid.”

As for the Fair Grove district, they are not currently in such a dire situation. Chris Stallings, Fair Grove High School’s principal, is well aware of the realities facing Fair Grove. He explained, “Our district attendance rate is typically around 95%. The weeks where are Covid exclusions were the highest it dropped down around 92%. School closure would be considered when attendance rates fall below 80%.”

Covid exclusion rates are tracked by Superintendent Mike Bell. As of January 18th, 2022, Stalling said, “…we had an exclusion rate of 1.72% in the elementary and 3.8% in the high school.” These numbers are extremely critical factors that help to determine if school closure is imminent. Stallings also explained how fortunate we are to maintain enough substitutes to cover teachers out due to Covid related issues.

Students have mixed feelings about school closures. Gravely, who is currently experiencing it, stressed its importance by stating, “Yes, it is very vital for the safety of the students and faculty members. I feel less stressed not being at school which makes me more happy and safe.” Yet at the same time expressed concern and said, “I feel in my opinion that we will receive less work or at least work that isn’t as hard as what it would be like in a normal school day as teachers understand that for a lot of families that a school shutdown could leave them with more stress.”

Fair Grove’s administrative team is largely united on the subject of school closure. In-person learning is needed when possible for Fair Grove students. Stallings said, “Long term school closures like we witnessed in 2020  have been particularly damaging to students. We believe the best place for students is in school so we are hopeful that we can avoid any future closures.”

Works Cited

Associated Press. “At least 62 Missouri school districts have temporarily closed in January.” KY3 News, 21 January 2022. https://www.ky3.com/2022/01/21/least-62-missouri-school-districts-have-temporarily-closed-january/

NESCO. “Covid-19 Education Response.” Covid19 Response, https://covid19.uis.unesco.org/global-monitoring-school-closures-covid19/.