Citizen survey respondents overwhelmingly favor fully virtual return to school

By an overwhelming majority, respondents to a Henrico Citizen survey believe that the county’s public schools should begin the year with virtual-only learning – but more than half also said they were considering removing their students from the school system to pursue a different educational path this fall.

More than 55% of the 667 qualified respondents indicated that a fully virtual plan was their preference, far outpacing those who selected a full-time, in-person option (25%), or those who selected one of three hybrid variations (19%), in which students would split their learning between in-person and virtual lessons.

The Henrico School Board will vote Thursday to determine a plan of action for the coming school year; Superintendent Amy Cashwell Monday recommended that the first nine weeks be conducted through a virtual-only format for most students, with some possible exceptions for English learners, exceptional education students and others who require some level of in-person instruction.

The Citizen invited responses between July 17 and 22 to its 27-question survey on its website, announcing the opportunity through the site, its social media channels and its daily email newsletter. Readers submitted a total of 737 responses, of which 70 were deemed not qualified because they provided non-Henrico ZIP codes or reflected duplicate responses from the same household.

Survey respondents were asked to participate only if they have students in the school system. The survey was unscientific.

Across school levels, the responses reflected relatively similar patterns, with a few exceptions:

• among those who indicated they had only elementary school students, 66% favored a fully virtual approach, 21% a full-time return and 13% a hybrid plan;

• among those with students in elementary school and either middle, high school or both, 50% favored the fully virtual plan, and about 25% favored each of the other two general options;

• those with only middle- and/or high-school students also chose the fully virtual approach first (51%), followed by 26% who favored a hybrid plan and 22% who favored the full-time, in-person plan.

“While there is no easy answer or resolution to this, the communities need to buck up, support one another and start thinking ahead to plan for the start of school at home,” one respondent wrote, expressing support for a fully virtual plan. “Parents need to set and lead by example here and group together to find resources for all circumstances, not just their own.”

Asked if they were considering removing their students from HCPS this fall in favor of another plan, only 47% of respondents said no. The others said they were considering various options (38%), homeschool (7%), private school (6%) or cooperative learning (1%).

A challenge many parents have expressed concerns or frustrations about is how they will handle their children working virtually while they themselves try to work from home. Others who aren’t able to work from home have similar concerns.

Among respondents to the Citizen’s survey, about 20% indicated that there were no adults in their households who could work from home. More than 52% indicated one adult could do so, and about 26% said that two or more could.

Asked what their approach would be to virtual learning, nearly 50% said that at least one adult always would be home with a student; 22% said they didn’t know yet; 10% said at least one adult would be present sometimes but not always; 4% said they planned to hire someone to help; and 7% said no adults would be present.

Of the 47 people from the latter group, only four said they had only elementary school students; the others had either all secondary school students or a mix of elementary and secondary students.

Some respondents not confident about HCPS’s virtual learning plans
Even as a majority of respondents said they favored a fully virtual plan, they expressed less confidence in the school system’s ability to deliver a robust virtual-learning experience.

Forty-three percent said they were skeptical that the system would do so, while another 13% said they did not expect that it would. About 42% said they were confident the virtual-learning plan would be appropriate.

Those numbers seemed to reflect some of the unhappiness a number of respondents felt about the school system’s virtual learning programs during the spring months after the pandemic forced the closure of schools in March. About 37% of respondents said that those programs (including the Edflix platform) were poor throughout, while another 7% said they started out well but got worse over time.

“The online learning [this spring] was useless – HCPS did a HORRIBLE JOB!” one respondent wrote. “No teaching, no accountability, no effort!”

However, about 39% said that although they felt the programs started out poorly, they improved over time. About 13% said the plans were excellent throughout.

‘Kids need education, not more screen time’
Those who said they did not favor virtual learning gave a variety of explanations why. The survey provided seven options and an “other” line for them to select, and they could select as many as desired.

The most common response (shared by about 34% of all survey respondents) was a desire for their students to continue their academic progression on an appropriate timeline.

“Virtual learning is not developmentally appropriate for young learners who can't read, type or write well,” one respondent wrote. “In order for it to be successful, it requires in person learning coaches for every student. Kids need education, not more screen time.”

About 33% of all respondents said they favored in-person school to allow their children a chance to have social interaction with friends, teachers and others.”

“Because their MENTAL health is just as important as their physical health, and the risks to their mental heath from the isolation and stress of virtual learning is greater than COVID,” one wrote.

And 33% also said that virtual learning would create stress as one or both parents tried to work from home while overseeing virtual learning – or said that no adults from their households could work from home.

Other reasons cited included a concern that not all students would be safe at home (17% of respondents).

One respondent wrote, simply, “I am uncertain on how this will work when both parents have full time jobs.”

‘There is too much we don’t know’
Those who supported virtual learning also gave a number of reasons for their perspectives. They had eight choices in the survey, plus and “other” line and also could select as many as applied.

The most-cited reason for favoring a virtual plan: concern that teachers or staff members might contract COVID others, an answer given by 54% of all survey respondents.

“This is a dangerous situation and Henrico County schools have too many students to adequately enforce social distancing in and enclosed space,” one respondent wrote.

Nearly 53% of all respondents also said they were concerned about how schools could effectively enforce mask-wearing and distancing requirements and adequately clean all school areas.

“While I think the school system and those wearing masks will do their best, the cavalier attitude of some families regarding mask wearing and the validity of the virus worries me,” one respondent wrote.

About 52% said they were concerned that their children could contract the virus.

“There is too much we don’t know about this virus and its long-term morbidity,” wrote another. “I have no desire to have my kids be the Guinea pigs used to figure it out.”

Another respondent expressed concern that a spread of COVID in schools could ultimately impact others in the community who have no interaction with schools or students.

About 17% said they were uncomfortable with the idea of their students wearing masks all day.

Wrote another respondent: “There are plenty of moronic parents who believe this is a hoax and who have not been wearing masks or been socially distancing themselves or their kids. Frankly, my child or family or the teachers, bus drivers, other school staff do not need to risk their lives for morons.”

Demographic differences
There was a significant difference among what men and women indicated as their preferences for a return to school.

Slightly more than three-quarters of all survey respondents were women, and among them, 58% percent favored a fully virtual plan, while 22% supported a full in-person plan and 20% favored a hybrid plan.

Among men, however, 44% favored a full return to in-person learning, while 41% supported the fully virtual option and 15% selected a hybrid option.

Survey respondents indicated that they live predominantly in the West End; only about 11% said they lived in an Eastern Henrico ZIP code, and about 8% gave a Northern Henrico ZIP code.

In most ZIP codes overall, those who supported the fully virtual model outpaced those who favored a full in-person return by a 2-to-1 margin or more.

Respondents who indicated that they live in the Glen Allen ZIP codes of 23059 and 23060 – which had the two highest number of respondents (a total of 257) – cast about 59% of their votes for the fully virtual plan, while about 23% chose a hybrid option and about 22% chose full-time learning in person.

Respondents from the Near West End ZIP code of 23229, which generally includes the River Road an Patterson Avenue corridors east of Gaskins Road, were a notable exception, favoring a return to full in-person learning (43%) rather than virtual learning (40%).

Among the 62 responses from residents of Varina, Highland Springs and Sandston, 56% favored fully virtual plans, while 23% favored full-time in-person plans and 21% supported a hybrid approach.

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