BOSTON — Less than half of respondents to a Patch reader survey believe Massachusetts schools can safely reopen in the fall, and a quarter of those with school-age children say they would keep them home rather than risk exposure to the coronavirus.
Opinions were sharply divided over whether children should be required to wear masks in schools, should they reopen. A plurality of respondents — 40 percent — said it’s an unrealistic idea, and 28 percent said it’s realistic only for older children. Just 29 percent said it is workable for all children.
The survey was posted Tuesday and emailed to a portion of Patch subscribers, and received more than 3,850 responses. The survey is not a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but can be considered a broad indicator of public sentiment.
About 46 percent of survey respondents said they believe schools can and should reopen in the fall.
As one parent put it: “Mentally, socially and academically my children need to be back in school. Academically my children fell behind with remote learning.”
Another wrote: “Kids need the daily structure that school provides, the interactions with other children, and the direct instruction of their teachers. The younger they are, the more they need this.”Subscribe
But more than a third of respondents — 35 percent — disagreed. Many cited the potential dangers to students.
“I do not want my child wearing a mask, I do not want my child to miss recess, or lunch in a cafeteria with their friends,” one parent wrote. “I think it would be like sending them to a prison and would prefer to homeschool until this nonsense is over.”
Some respondents also pointed to the dangers to educators and other school employees of returning to school too soon.
“No one is considering the teachers in this equation,” one respondent wrote. “A return to school is dangerous for older staff as well as students and teachers with compromised immune systems. We are in a pandemic and a return to school is reckless.”
Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration has proposed three possible scenarios for a fall reopening: in-class learning with masks and social distancing; a continuation of remote learning; or some mixture of the two.
None of those scenarios commanded a clear majority of survey respondents.
Many respondents expressed grave doubts that in-class learning can be done safely, expressing doubt that younger children especially can or should be counted on to stay “masked up.”
“I think the mask are going to work fine in the first week,” one respondent wrote. “And then is going to be an epic battle. Specially for the little kids. Things like: they hurt in the ears, it doesn’t fit properly, I left it in the car, at home, etc. (It’s) going to be the daily burden not only for the parents but also for the teachers and school personnel. “
But others said children should not be required to wear masks at all.
“The kids should be in school with minimal restrictions, no masks, no distancing, and a fully operational school (like we pay for in our taxes),” another wrote. “There should be remote learning capabilities for students not feeling well or at high risk of illness.”
Doubts about the efficacy of masks and other measures perhaps contributed to the view among many parents that their children would be safer staying home even if schools reopen.
But some respondents questioned whether any decisions on schools reopening can be made at this point.
“We all want schools opened,” one wrote. “We all want kids and staff safe. We can want it all, but it will depend on the virus. We just don’t know. We have to be very flexible.”
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