During Visit To Forsyth School, DeVos Says Families Should Have Choices
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks Tuesday to chemistry students during a visit to Forsyth Central High School in Cumming, Georgia.
Jeff Amy / Associated Press
U.S. Education Secretary Betsey DeVos visited Forsyth Central High School Tuesday. The idea was to highlight the Forsyth County Schools’ approach to resuming in-person classes. The district has reported some cases of COVID-19 since school began Aug. 13, but it hasn’t closed any schools as a result. DeVos participated in a staff roundtable, visited classrooms, and took reporters’ questions.
‘It’s Not Right for Every Family’
During the roundtable made up of district officials, teachers, parents, and some state officials, most school-based staff said they were glad to be back teaching in person and they thought the students felt the same way.
“We really believe in the importance of coming back face to face,” said Principal Mitch Young. “We know it’s not right for every family…but at the high school level…we offer face-to-face, we offer online, and then we offer a hybrid [model].”
Young said about 72% of students at Forsyth Central has opted for in-person learning.
Forsyth Superintendent Jeff Bearden said the district is prepared should it have to change plans due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“This summer, we spent a lot of time putting together a K-5 virtual program, a lot of professional development for virtual teachers,” he said. “Our teachers are just knocking it out of the park.”
As DeVos visited classes, she checked in with some students and asked them how the year was going so far. Most responded they were glad to be back.
Even though she’s advocated for schools to resume in-person learning, DeVos said Tuesday families should have options.
“President Trump and I are really committed to the fact that kids need to be back to learning full time, but don’t mistake learning full time for suggesting that every single student needs to be 100% in-person in school,” she said. “We need to give families choices and students choices.”
A Call To Close
A small group of parents protested DeVos’s visit outside the school.
Anita Tucker said the visit was just a photo op. She doesn’t think the school district is protecting students and staff by allowing in-person learning.
“We have a pandemic, and they don’t feel the need to adapt and to go all virtual and to take of everybody in the community?” Tucker said. “It’s just not right.”
Georgia Democrats also released a statement, quoting Amy Westmoreland, a former school nurse in the Paulding County Public Schools, who resigned due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
“My former students and colleagues are being put in harm’s way in their schools because Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump ignored public health guidelines and reopened schools without a plan. I am so angry at this administration for throwing our families into chaos, and our children into danger because they have refused to show any real leadership,” the statement read. “Betsy DeVos has no place coming here to visit schools that are in crisis because she has been an active participate [sic] in this administration’s haphazard plan to reopen schools during a global pandemic.”
Pictures of unmasked students in Paulding and Cherokee counties went viral when classes began at the beginning of August. Three Cherokee County high schools have switched to all-virtual instruction through the end of August due to reported cases of COVID-19.
According to a recent White House coronavirus report, Cherokee, Paulding and Forsyth counties are all in the “Yellow Zone,” meaning the rate of COVID-19 cases in each area is between 5 and 10%. Still, DeVos said she’s encouraged by Georgia school re-openings.
“I think it’s been good that schools are committed to re-opening,” she said. “I know that there have been a couple of schools that have had more incidents of students with the virus.”
She went on to say public health agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have issued re-opening guidelines schools should follow.
None of the three metro Atlanta districts requires students to wear face coverings in school. DeVos said students should be encouraged to wear masks, but they should ultimately decide for themselves.
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