A Closer Look at the Coweta Schools Parents’ Survey

From Staff Reports

Just over 70 percent of Coweta County public school student parents planned to send their kids back for face-to-face instruction this upcoming school year, according to a July survey conducted by the Coweta County Schools System.

About 40 percent of those parents said they were “very” or “extremely comfortable” about that decision, according to that parental survey. On the other hand, 37 percent of parents said they were “slightly or “not at all comfortable’ with sending their kids back.

There were 12,474 responses to the short questionnaire. Almost half of the responses came from parents with kids in elementary school. All schools, from elementary to high school, were fairly equal in the number of responses.

What will happen over the next few weeks and months remains unknown. As it stands today, the school board has opted to begin classes Aug. 13, but completely online. A decision to add the school face-to-face option won’t be made before Sept. 4 at the earliest.

At the time of the Board of Education’s decision on July 30, here were the numbers … Georgia Department of Public Health numbers of COVID-19 cases in Coweta County were 608 during the month of July, just shy of the total amount (667) for months of March, April, May and June combined. All total, Coweta County had 1,275 cumulative cases with 18 deaths and 87 hospitalizations as of July 30.

There were also 2,283 comments that were part of the survey, the majority of which dealt with bus safety, masks for teachers and students,  rising coronavirus cases and whether social distancing is possible.

The school administration and teachers are facing unknown territory in an ever-changing environment. Thank them for doing their best to keep themselves and our children safe.

Below are a cross-section of comments made by parents from the survey, basically showing the views run the gamut.

Parents’ Comments

No mask or social distancing  where practical is not acceptable, that is a 3rd grade answer to a pandemic.

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I trust that the school and county will take all necessary precautions to ensure my family/student’s safety and well-being.

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The shutdown is more harmful than the virus. Thank you for not mandating face masks for students.

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Not concerned about healthy teens contracting COVID.

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Because I’m not a sheep who’s afraid of a virus with a 99% survival rate.

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The unknown spread of the virus in kids.

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My concern is that even with all these measures in place if practices at home don’t enforce the same measures the level of exposure increases.

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Teachers not wearing masks, doubtful adequate social distancing will occur, all students should get daily temp & symptom screenings.

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Likelihood of school needing to shut back down when teachers/students are exposed to Covid; lack of student interaction;

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Masks should be enforced.

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It’s best for children to get back to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible and going back to school in the school setting is a huge step in the right direction.

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She is too young and I’m afraid wearing a face mask will make her very hot AND I’m not quite sure all the little ones will keep theirs on either.

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Face mask optional.

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Concerned that some parents will send their kids to school with symptoms.

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Kids do not know how to social distance.

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You can’t expect elementary schools kids to follow mask, social distancing and touching policies. They will try, but it only takes one slip up.

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There are just too many kids in the school to be able to maintain appropriate distances.

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I also do not believe if a kid is sick it will be detected soon enough to prevent its spread of the virus.

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School is following all CDC guidelines

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I feel the school will follow all the guidelines and precautions they need to.

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I feel the school is doing everything in their power to safely allow students to return to school.

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Time to go back to semi normal.

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Desire for a strong foundation of education in an environment that is structure, safe, and promotes social interactions.

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Guidelines are great for the current situation but believe that pushing back the start date would make them easier and more lenient.

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Kids cannot effectively take precautions as adults, worried about spreading to their more vulnerable family members and friends.

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I am not sure that the safety guidelines being put in place is enough.

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Too many kids in classroom and parents sending sick kids to school.

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Students cannot stay socially distanced unless class sizes are cut in half.

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COVID numbers are increasing, and I don’t see how 6-year-olds can follow mask and disinfection rules.

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We cannot maintain safe social distancing inside our school buildings unless large numbers of our students choose the virtual option.

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Not knowing how the changes in the routines my child has grown to be familiar with will impact her socially and academically.

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My kids, I think, will learn better at home during the pandemic.

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Covid is spreading more rapidly now than in the Spring. We should be delaying the start of school instead of forcing parents to become teachers in an online virtual environment.

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I know the school will do the best they can to keep the children safe.

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Not willing for any of my kids to be face to face at this time.

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Lack of mandatory masks for students and staff. As a father and husband of a teacher, I think this is very shortsighted and based purely on politics.

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I’m not entirely comfortable with the bussing situation. My daughter’s bus is overcrowded.

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The spread of the virus is not under control yet for students to return back.

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I don’t want my child bringing home Covid.