Bridget Bolder sent her daughter, Mia, to kindergarten at a neighborhood public school. After all, it seemed the 鈥渘ormal, regular thing to do.鈥�

But Bolder started to worry that some of her daughter鈥檚 classmates were exposing her to inappropriate topics. Early in the school year, Mia had to tell a teacher about a boy groping some of the other girls.

鈥淚鈥檓 like, she鈥檚 a baby,鈥� Bolder said. 鈥淏ring her home a little while longer before I throw her to the wolves.鈥�

Brian Wilson and his wife homeschooled three of their children last year. They struggled to juggle home life, both parents鈥� jobs and teaching the kids.

The family briefly switched to in-person school, but Wilson said it only validated the parents鈥� theory that the individual attention the kids got at home had been working.

鈥淭hey seemed like head and shoulders above all the other kids when it comes to learning,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y son, Aaron 鈥� he鈥檚 the youngest 鈥� he was actually helping kids in his class.鈥�

Both families have turned to the new Brookside Virtual Academy so they could keep their kids at home and still rely on professional teachers to lead their schooling.

The academy is attached to Brookside Charter School and bills itself as Kansas City鈥檚 only virtual program where teaching happens on live, interactive video calls.

Online school isn鈥檛 widely popular. It鈥檚 been blamed for some of the learning loss that set kids back during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kansas City Public Schools closed its virtual academy for kindergarten through fifth grade this year because of shrinking enrollment, district spokesperson Shain Bergan said in an email.

But for a girl with severe social anxiety? A boy with leukemia? A young athlete with a rigorous training and travel schedule?

Leslie Correa, who helped design the KCPS program, said certain students and families need the option. So she found a home for the program at Brookside, where she鈥檚 now the virtual academy principal.

鈥淭he students that virtual works for, it works really well for,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e cannot close the door to them for having a great education.鈥�

Who succeeds in virtual education?

For some students, the computer screen provides a layer of distance that makes them braver, Correa said. Learning from home can also reduce distracting for some kids with autism.

For example, loud or persistent background noise, visually busy environments or other students bumping into them could overwhelm some children.

Other students might need virtual school for logistical reasons.

That could include students who are barred from in-person school for disciplinary issues, traveling athletes, kids going through intensive medical treatment like dialysis or chemotherapy, or parents who struggle with transportation.

Some families identify as homeschoolers but want professional help teaching reading and math, Correa said. Since virtual school is more concise, it leaves more flexibility in the day.

Parents鈥� fears can also push them toward keeping kids at home.

鈥淎nytime that there has been a violent occurrence in one of our schools in Kansas City, I get a big uptick in enrollment,鈥� Correa said. 鈥淭hey feel scared and they鈥檙e looking for an alternative.鈥�

When virtual learning doesn鈥檛 work

To figure out if it鈥檚 a good fit, Correa starts by asking parents why they鈥檙e interested in virtual school.

鈥淚f it鈥檚, you know, 鈥業 don鈥檛 have day care and I need my 12-year-old to be home to watch my kid,鈥� it鈥檚 kind of an alarm,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not the one to judge what their decision is, but I am the one to help arm them with information.鈥�

The virtual academy serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Because Kansas City-area charter schools can only operate within the boundaries of KCPS, its students have to be from that area.

The virtual academy doesn鈥檛 turn students away based on their reason to enroll, Correa said, but it monitors their progress. If a student isn鈥檛 thriving, she meets with a parent to make a plan, like tutoring or switching the child to in-person school.

Schools can deny virtual education if they document that it鈥檚 not in the student鈥檚 best interest.

鈥淢y goal before getting to that point is always to have the parent make that decision for themselves through very hard conversation,鈥� Correa said. 鈥淏ut it does happen.鈥�

Problems can arise when the virtual school doesn鈥檛 think it can fulfill an individualized education program, or IEP, often used to support students with disabilities.

鈥淭he parent has the option to return to in-person learning or waive the IEP, and then their student does not get that support,鈥� Correa said. 鈥淭hey almost never waive the IEP.鈥�

Students can also get removed from virtual school, and referred for truancy, if they stop signing in or engaging at all for too many days.

Correa said she鈥檚 also attentive to offering ways for virtual students to get more comfortable with in-person interaction.

Virtual school students can attend optional in-person events and participate in Brookside clubs and sports.

鈥淚f they want to kind of test the water, the opportunity is there,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f a student is saying to me, 鈥業 am ready to go in a building,鈥� then OK. But then also, if a student is saying to me, 鈥業 need out of the building,鈥� OK, I鈥檓 here. I just don鈥檛 want to disrupt their education.鈥�

How virtual learning works 

Right before the school year started, Brookside Charter School鈥檚 STEAM lab was set up for virtual academy orientation.

Teachers and school leaders passed out laptops, hot spots for internet access and school supplies.

The supply bags include books, basics like pencils and glue, whiteboards and dry erase markers (extra for younger kids, who tend to leave the caps off), and individually packaged science kits for lessons on the solar system, geology or density.

But first, families settled in for a presentation to learn the basics.

Brookside Virtual Academy starts at 9 a.m. with a lesson on leadership.

Most days, students then launch into reading class, followed by math. Wednesdays are for science.

Students spend about two and a half hours in live virtual lessons each day, and another 90 minutes online working through a task list that includes social studies and science.

Live classes use video calls and technology that lets teachers monitor what students are looking at and control their screens.

Parents aren鈥檛 responsible for teaching their kids, but they鈥檙e expected to keep in touch and generally make sure the students are online and on task.

Connecting with families

For some parents, being extra involved in part of the draw.

Wilson, the parent of three kids in the program, said he appreciates that it cuts the school day down to essentials, allowing parents to be more strategic about where they put time into their kids鈥� education.

Bolder, the parent of a first grader, said she鈥檚 looking forward to more easily monitoring what her daughter is learning so she can help supplement that.

Virtual education makes it easier to connect with families, said Tina Duvall, a reading and math interventionist for kindergarten through fourth grade.

鈥淚 get to be in their home with them. It takes away a whole lot of anxiety for kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thought in my years past teaching that I knew 鈥� really, really knew 鈥� my students鈥� families, but not like this.鈥�

Duvall will be working with breakout groups of students, grouped by grade or ability level.

With about 100 students as of Aug. 20, two or three grades are combined under each of four virtual academy teachers. But staggered schedules and help from interventionists like Duvall will allow each grade to learn separately.

The biggest challenge, Duvall said, is not being able to sit by a student to point things out or hand them what they need.

鈥淵ou just want to reach through the screen and help,鈥� she said.

Bolder and Wilson said they have their kids in in-person activities so they can socialize. But they鈥檙e not sure if they鈥檒l ever go to in-person school.

鈥淭here shouldn鈥檛 be such a thing as a bad school,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淏ut because there is, until we鈥檙e able to put our kids in a good school 鈥� then we feel like we鈥檙e more suited to teach our kids at home.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

That鈥檚 the date the state will begin to transfer public funds to St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School to hire teachers, plan curriculum and prepare to open in August. Members of Oklahoma鈥檚 Virtual Charter School Board, he said, 鈥渂etrayed their oath of office鈥� last June when they voted 3-2 to approve a charter with the Catholic church to open the school. 

But making arguments that will likely reach the nation鈥檚 high court, the attorney for the school said St. Isidore is a private entity and signing a contract with the state did not turn it into a public one. 

鈥淪t. Isidore was a private organization before it received a charter. The state did not create it,鈥� said Michael McGinley. 鈥淚t will continue to exist if the state ever terminates the charter. It would have continued to exist if the application had not been granted.鈥�

For nearly two hours, both sides presented very different views of St. Isidore. Attorneys for the charter board and the school portrayed it as a natural outgrowth of a recent 鈥渢rilogy鈥� of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that favor faith-based schools seeking public funds. But to Drummond 鈥� and to advocates for public schools 鈥� the case differs from those opinions in that it would not only redefine charters but upset a founding constitutional principle. 

鈥淭his case is not about exclusion of a religious entity from government aid,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is about the state creation of a religious school which unequivocally establishes religion.鈥� 

Some of the justices were clearly skeptical of the school鈥檚 argument and appeared uncomfortable with the position they found themselves in.

鈥淎re we being used as a test case? Sure looks like it,鈥� said Justice Yvonne Kauger. 

And Justice Noma Gurich pushed back on arguments in favor of allowing the school to open.

鈥淲here is the choice for taxpayers in Oklahoma not to support the Catholic Church or the Baptist Church, or the Episcopal Church or the atheist or any other church?鈥� she asked.

What鈥檚 clear is that for Oklahomans and the nation more broadly, the case pushes school choice into a new arena.

鈥淚 feel that so much is at stake, as a parent, as a taxpayer, but also as an American,鈥� said Erin Brewer, who has two students in the Deer Creek Public Schools, north of Oklahoma City. She鈥檚 also a plaintiff in challenging the legality of the school. 鈥淲e’re talking about the fundamentals of our democracy. We’ve always had the promise that government would never compel religion upon us.鈥�

But Phil Sechler, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, who represents the charter board, said that because families apply to attend, the state isn鈥檛 compelling them to do anything. That point echoes arguments made in and , two cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of parents who wanted to use school choice programs to attend parochial schools.

鈥淪t. Isidore only gets funds if there is enrollment,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat breaks the circuit between religion and government.鈥�

One argument against the school has been that if the state allows St. Isidore to open, it would have to approve applications from schools representing other religions. But Sechler dismissed concerns about opening the 鈥渇loodgates鈥� to Muslim schools, atheist schools and others. 

Organizations seeking to open a charter, he said, still have to meet 鈥渁mple neutral criteria鈥� and provide a quality education that meets a need. For example, they are required to have a financial plan, hire qualified teachers and administer tests.

Oklahoma offers a universal that provides up to $7,500 per student for private school tuition, but McGinley said for some families, that program isn鈥檛 enough. They can鈥檛 afford the rest of the tuition. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real hardship for a lot of families,鈥� he said. Charter schools 鈥減rovide an education where families don’t have to come up with that difference.鈥�

Preston Green, a University of Connecticut education and law professor, called McGinley鈥檚 argument a 鈥渂rilliant framing鈥� that helps the school鈥檚 case. He added that if the question eventually reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, he could see the conservative justices siding with the Catholic church.

鈥淚t just wouldn’t surprise me,鈥� he said. But he added that the Oklahoma charter case is about more than just religion. It鈥檚 also about public education funding. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no real consideration about the impact on the public school system. This could really create some fiscal strain.鈥�

St. Isidore plans to serve 500 students in its first year, and so far, has enrolled or received inquiries about applying from 200 students. Enrollment would increase each year until it reaches 1,500 by the 2028-29 school year. 

Green also addressed the question, which Justice Dana Kuehn raised, of whether the state could simply 鈥渃ure the problem鈥� by not having charter schools at all. Some legal experts have suggested that blue states would be more apt to go that route than to approve religious charters. 

But Green thinks that鈥檚 far-fetched.

鈥淐harters are such a part of the school environment,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n Black and brown, especially Black communities, charter schools are very popular, and the concerns about separation of church and state just do not resonate as much.鈥� 

While the justices asked a lot of questions about state law and precedent, Nicole Garnett,  a University of Notre Dame law professor who was instrumental in preparing the church鈥檚 application, said it鈥檚 likely the case won鈥檛 end in Oklahoma.

鈥淭he pivotal issue in their minds appears to be whether St. Isidore鈥檚 approval is consistent with Oklahoma law, but they also seemed to understand that the federal constitution must ultimately control the outcome of the case,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are hopeful the court will rule soon and allow St. Isidore to begin serving kids in the fall.鈥�

That鈥檚 why they鈥檝e applied to send their daughter Chloe to St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a first-of-its kind religious charter at the center of a national dispute over separation of church and state. 

Chloe is preparing for her confirmation at the end of April, a statement of her faith. Between Sundays, the family listens to a 鈥淏ible in a Year鈥� from a Minnesota priest with a large social media following. But her mother worries about students at her daughter鈥檚 public school being sexually active and wants her to get the 鈥渨holesome鈥� influences she thinks only a Catholic education would provide.

鈥淜ids at that school don’t have the same values that we have. They’re constantly on their phones,鈥� Joy said. 鈥淚’m not doing this to be some kind of trailblazer; I’m doing this for my kid.鈥�

Those are typically among the reasons many parents opt for private and faith-based schools. But on Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court will hear arguments in a precedent-setting case that examines whether publicly funded charter schools 鈥� which must uphold the same civil rights as traditional schools 鈥� can explicitly endorse religion. Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond will that the state鈥檚 Virtual Charter School Board violated both state and federal law when it voted 3-2 to approve the school鈥檚 charter application last June. Attorneys for the school, however, say preventing it from opening this fall would be religious discrimination that flies in the face of recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions.

Parties in the case recognize the significance of the moment. 鈥淚t’s part of history, so I’m glad I’m going to be sitting there to watch how this unfolds,鈥� said Robert Franklin, chair of the virtual charter board and one of two members to vote against the application. He supports school choice, but said 鈥渋n Oklahoma we’re pushing this as far and as fast as we possibly can. I think it’s going to have some significant consequences.鈥�

Notably, none of members who voted in favor of the school remain on the board. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed two, and , to his administration. The third, Scott Strawn, left to work at Baylor University in Texas.

To many observers, Bobek, who Stitt previously appointed to the state board of education, should not have been able to vote on the application. Republican House Speaker Charles McCall appointed him to the charter board just days before the vote, replacing a retired superintendent. Franklin asked him to recuse himself, but Bobek refused. According to Drummond鈥檚 office, his appointment should until five months later.

One of the most outspoken evangelists for the school, state Superintendent Ryan Walters, also won鈥檛 be represented before the court. But that鈥檚 not for a lack of trying. Walters, who dismisses the separation of church and state as a 鈥�,鈥� failed three times to convince the court to carve out some time for the state education department during Tuesday鈥檚 oral arguments. He reasoned that since he supports the school, Drummond鈥檚 position isn鈥檛 the only one that matters. The school, however, joined Drummond in opposing the superintendent鈥檚 request, and Chief Justice M. John Kane turned Walters down.

The Catholic church鈥檚 effort to open St. Isidore 鈥� named for the of the internet 鈥� has split constitutional scholars and school choice experts from the start.

Religious freedom advocates say recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions laid the foundation for the nation鈥檚 first religious charter school. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue 鈥� a 2020 opinion about whether a family could use a tax credit scholarship at a faith-based school 鈥� the court said a 鈥渟tate need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.鈥�

That鈥檚 where the school鈥檚 argument breaks down, Drummond wrote in .

鈥淪t. Isidore is not a 鈥榩rivate school.鈥� Under Oklahoma law, it is [a] public school,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭herefore, these recent U.S. Supreme Court cases have no relevance to this dispute.鈥� 

Despite Oklahoma being a deeply red state, its high court tends to lean . Regardless of how the Oklahoma justices rule, however, observers expect the issue to end up in federal court. 

Issues of discrimination

Drummond鈥檚 lawsuit is not the only effort to stop the school from opening Aug. 12. Public school advocates, parents and religious leaders filed in October against the charter board, Walters and the state education department. 

The case 鈥渞aises important issues鈥� about discrimination not addressed by Drummond鈥檚 lawsuit, said Alex Luchenitser, associate vice president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs.

The school, which is holding an until Wednesday, will accept students with disabilities, but its says that services or accommodations for students can鈥檛 be 鈥渋n opposition to church teaching.鈥� The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City declined to elaborate. In addition, the school might not accept students whose services would 鈥渟ignificantly alter the regular classroom process.鈥�

Last year, before the board approved the school, Andrea Kunkel, general counsel for a state school administrators organization, warned that charter schools can鈥檛 ignore special education law.

鈥淎lthough St. Isidore may not have readily available all services that future students may need, it has the legal obligation to either provide and pay for those services through a different model or arrange for them to be provided by someone else and pay for them,鈥� she wrote in a letter to the board. 

LGBTQ students can attend, but staff will only use pronouns and nicknames that match their biological sex at birth, a stance that echoes Walters鈥檚 position on gender identity issues. The state board passed a rule in October giving members final say over students鈥� requests to change sex or gender designations in school records. One transgender student is . The charter school will also enforce a dress code requiring clothing to 鈥渃orrespond to the student鈥檚 biological sex.鈥�

Those rules 鈥渁re strong grounds for blocking the planned operation and state funding of the school,鈥� Luchenitser said. Their case, he added, reflects the views of taxpayers, parents and others 鈥渨ho will be harmed if St. Isidore is allowed to operate and receive state funds.鈥�

No hearings have been held in that case, which is in state court, but last week, the defendants asked Judge Richard Ogden to dismiss it. 

St. Isidore鈥檚 student/parent suggests that students who don鈥檛 adapt well to online learning will be encouraged to return to their district schools. 

But Joy Stevens expects that her daughter, who has been homeschooled and attended another Oklahoma virtual charter school during the pandemic, will do well.

Like many students who prefer online school, Chloe has a hectic schedule. The 13-year-old is a competitive gymnast, spending several hours a week in training. She is learning to fly a plane and helps tend to her family鈥檚 farm animals and garden.

Her mother says the family would have used Oklahoma鈥檚 tax credit scholarship program to pay for private school tuition.

But 鈥渢here鈥檚 just no option out here,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淚f Chloe is accepted or chosen in the lottery, it is a sure sign of God’s will for her and our family.鈥�

If you asked most families with young kids whether they鈥檇 do virtual schooling again after the shift to online classes during the pandemic, .鈥� But for Lia Carlile, it鈥檚 not a hypothetical 鈥� it鈥檚 a choice she鈥檚 made for her four kids.

Her youngest, 7-year-old Samuel Carlile, met his first-grade classmates in person for the first time at a class field trip to the zoo. His sister, 16-year-old Caroline Carlile, said he came home bursting with excitement about meeting the other students.

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鈥淗e was like, 鈥榦h my gosh, I got to meet so and so, and we had such a great time,鈥� Caroline said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to me the community that these teachers have been able to build with students that have never met face to face,鈥� added Caroline, who goes to , an online school through Quillayute Valley School District. The district is headquartered in Forks, on the Olympic Peninsula, but the Carliles live in Curlew, a small community in eastern Washington near the Canadian border.

Lia Carlile spent years teaching at a brick-and-mortar school before switching to teaching math and science at Omak School District鈥檚 , which Sam and her other two kids attend. Now, she鈥檚 the assistant principal there. Carlile said virtual education is a 鈥渞eally good compromise鈥� between homeschooling and public school.

鈥淚 get a job that I love and the kids go to a school they love,鈥� Carlile said.

But amid a rise in online schooling in Washington and other parts of the country, some experts are skeptical that virtual learning matches the benefits of an in-person environment 鈥� especially for the state鈥檚 youngest learners. Data also suggest virtual schools aren鈥檛 preparing students for college or other education beyond high school.

Although standalone K-12 online schools have been around for years, the rise in virtual learning during the pandemic. In recent years, districts have opened and expanded online program offerings, even as COVID receded.

As of 2022, there are 267 online schools in Washington state approved by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Although they are all authorized by public schools, others are publicly run. Four schools offer virtual learning for preschoolers and 140 for elementary school students.

Virtual school administrators say parents often choose online learning for their young kids to allow the family more flexibility, to prevent bullying, or to remove barriers for kids with disabilities and mental health issues like anxiety or depression. Elementary school parents in particular are often more hands-on, administrators say, and choose online school because it allows them more control over their child鈥檚 education.

鈥淔or us, we travel. We have family all over. The flexibility of online school, it was a necessity,鈥� Carlile said.

Here to stay

were enrolled in at least one online class each year. During the 2021-2022 school year, , according to state reports, with just over 2,000 kindergarteners and first-graders enrolled in at least one online class. K-12 students in Washington state.

Data isn鈥檛 yet available for how many kids stayed in online schools during the 2022-2023 school year. At two of the state鈥檚 largest online schools, Insight School of Washington and Washington Virtual Academies, enrollment has started returning to pre-pandemic levels, school administrators said.

But , the agency approved 48 new single-district online school programs and seven new multi-district online school programs in the 2021-2022 school year. At least 33 of those new programs serve elementary-aged students, according to Rhett Nelson, director of learning options at OSPI.

鈥淥nline learning continues to grow as an enrollment option across Washington,鈥� the report said. 鈥淎s schools adapt to the assorted needs of their students, online learning will continue to be an important element of public education.鈥�

Insight School of Washington, one of the largest online schools, expanded to elementary and middle school levels during the pandemic. Administrators say they plan to keep it that way.

鈥淥nline education may have gotten a bit of a bad rap through the pandemic because so many districts were trying to rush into that process,鈥� said Jillian Ralston, an academic counselor at Insight. 鈥淏ut what we have is something that鈥檚 been around for a long time.鈥�

鈥淲e know how to support these students,鈥� Ralston added.

鈥榁irtual recess鈥� and 鈥榗amera-on鈥� policies

In the Carlile household, recess is on the computer.

鈥淸With] virtual school, people say, 鈥榟ow do kids connect, and how do they make friends?鈥欌�� Lia Carlile said. 鈥淪o we have this program this year called the K-12 Zone, and it鈥檚 virtual recess.鈥�

The launched at Washington Virtual Academies and Insight School of Washington this year. Kids who use the K-12 Zone can move between online 鈥渞ooms.鈥� There are games in the zone and the whole space is moderated by an adult, similar to an in-person school鈥檚 recess monitor. Carlile said it鈥檚 largely used by middle school and older elementary students.

Every child enrolled at the two schools must also have a 鈥渓earning coach,鈥� an adult 鈥� usually a parent or grandparent 鈥� who supervises the child. The coach is much more involved with the younger grades, said Myron Hammond, executive director of Insight School of Washington.

Hammond said K-12 online school is much more interactive than an average online college class. At Insight, for example, the school has a 鈥渃amera-on鈥� policy for all students and encourages teachers to use web-based tools that allow students to work together.

Still, some online schools will offer occasional in-person events, like the zoo trip Sam went on, in acknowledgment of the benefits of in-person interaction.

鈥淭he only thing I miss in person that I can鈥檛 do virtually is give the kid a high-five,鈥� Carlile said. 鈥淧retty much everything else we can replicate.鈥�

鈥楯ust missing out so much鈥�

Carlile believes 鈥渁ny student can be successful in a virtual environment,鈥� as long as they have the right support.

However, experts are skeptical. Joy Egbert, a professor of education at Washington State University who studies technology use, said that while it depends on the student, in general, the younger a student is, the less likely they are to learn effectively in virtual school.

鈥淚 think some people think the online environment gives children access to everything they need and it doesn鈥檛,鈥� Egbert said.

There鈥檚 a higher learning curve for younger students. For example, Carlile鈥檚 son, Sam, had to learn how to use a computer before switching to online school. Egbert said that can be a challenge some young kids can鈥檛 overcome.

Caroline Carlile said she doesn鈥檛 know if online school would have worked for her when she was young, especially because she has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Still, she鈥檚 confident it鈥檚 working for her younger siblings.

鈥淏ecause of Samuel鈥檚 teachers, he loves it,鈥� Caroline said.

University of Washington professor Soojin Oh Park, who focuses on early education and child development, said she thinks young students cannot learn conflict resolution and other important skills in an online setting.

鈥淏y being solely reliant on virtual learning or [an] online schooling platform鈥hey鈥檙e just missing out so much,鈥� Park said.

Park said that if a child has consistent, in-person interactions outside of virtual school with kids their age and supportive adults, such as social groups for homeschooled kids, then 鈥渕aybe it will be okay鈥� for them learning online. That said, as a parent of a first grader, she鈥檇 approach any virtual learning environment with caution.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine myself enrolling my own child in a fully online, virtual environment,鈥� Park said.

Outcome gaps

At many of the largest virtual schools in Washington, most students are well behind state standards, particularly in math. And at Insight School of Washington, one of the largest for-profit online schools, only 7.6% of students met math standards in spring 2023, compared to 39% of all Washington public school students.

Hammond said the numbers reflect that many students come to Insight for credit recovery, and said Insight measures success based on parent feedback and increasing graduation rates.

鈥淲hen I鈥檝e met with families at graduations or even when I鈥檝e made phone calls with families, it鈥檚 not uncommon for them to say 鈥榯hank you,鈥欌�� Hammond said. He added that families also frequently say they feel like they have more one-on-one support from their teachers in an online virtual program compared to at brick-and-mortar schools.

In a state audit report, they kept offering online school after pandemic restrictions ended because the programs were popular enough to become self-sustaining, even as districts lost access to temporary funding.

Walla Walla鈥檚 district officials said some students 鈥渢hrived鈥� in an online environment and Northshore School District, which covers an area around Bothell, said students who moved online 鈥渃ontinue to do well compared to previous school years.鈥�

But Park, the UW professor, pointed that found brain activity decreases when interacting on virtual meeting platforms like Zoom, as opposed to in-person interactions.

Park said virtual learning can offer easier access to resources like bilingual teachers, but she鈥檚 also worried about the ways it might increase disparities. Wealthier parents, Park pointed out, will likely have more access to extracurricular activities and other services that help enrich a child鈥檚 educational experience beyond a virtual classroom.

Egbert, at WSU, said that a common misconception is that virtual school offers more freedom than in-person school. In reality, Egbert said, it is often more difficult for teachers to adapt a standardized curriculum to fit a particular child online than it is in person.

If a parent is dedicated to putting their child in online school, Egbert said they need to make sure the particular program they choose fits with the way their child likes to learn. Overall, kids who are more oriented to learning through listening may do better in a virtual program than those who are especially social or like to learn through physical activity.

鈥淢y advice for parents is: It鈥檚 not just what you want,鈥� Egbert said. 鈥淚f you want your children to learn, think about how that can happen best for them. Not just because you need to take them out of school often.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on and .

Will Clark ran about his home, munching on chicken nuggets while watching the movie 鈥淭he Nut Job.鈥� The 5-year-old acted out the movie scene-for-scene, shrieking when something exciting happened on the screen and mimicking dialogue the best he could.

His mother, Stephanie Glass, watched from the kitchen table at their Oxford, Iowa, home where she sat with Wesley, her 1-year-old son. This was shaping up to be a normal spring Tuesday night at the Glass home. The COVID-19 pandemic hadn鈥檛 changed that, at least.

But it changed dramatically how Will and other children like him who are on the autism spectrum had to deal with learning. These children have faced unique hurdles over the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they are learning online, hybrid or in-person.

鈥淟ess than ideal,鈥� Glass said about how Will started online preschool in fall 2020.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that has been identified with autism spectrum disorder by age 8. People on the spectrum persistently have difficulty communicating and interacting with others and are prone to restrictive or repetitive behavior. Online learning, with impersonal factors such as having to watch a small screen and not having a teacher present, amplified the problem during the pandemic.

Will had difficulty taking in information being taught online. Glass said she could tell he wasn鈥檛 getting aid he needed from his teacher.

In March 2020, Will had been thriving on his routine of school, speech therapy and family time. He stayed home from Clear Creek Elementary School in Oxford to get his tonsils taken out before spring break last year, and ended up spending the rest of the school year at home.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really go anywhere, we didn鈥檛 really do much,鈥� Glass said. 鈥淎nd, it was super, super hard, especially with Will, because he鈥檚 so active and so rambunctious.鈥�

Glass said Will was diagnosed with autism after he started preschool in 2019. He was non-verbal until a year and a half ago. The family spends days hopping between school, therapy, their own home and Glass鈥� parents鈥� home a few minutes away.

While every child had a learning curve when it came to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Glass said the way online classes and lessons were set up didn鈥檛 cater to Will鈥檚 needs. She said she had to redo lessons with Will and work on assignments with him.

Zoom sessions and assignments were curated in such a way students with issues focusing for long stretches of time struggled to absorb information. The teacher conducting Will鈥檚 online lessons wasn鈥檛 his normal teacher. It wasn鈥檛 that the teacher was bad, she said. It鈥檚 just that the teacher didn鈥檛 know how to properly accommodate a student with autism in online learning.

The Autism Research Institute, in San Diego, recommended to take with students on the spectrum who had to switch to online learning. They included explaining the situation to the child doing the learning, creating reasonable expectations, setting a schedule, involving the entire family and setting up support that relates to online learning.

Added Stress

Tim Fairbanks, of Iowa City, said his 7-year-old son, Cooper, became increasingly stressed trying to keep up with technology problems and changes. He also had a hard time sticking with the online schedule.

Children on the spectrum have the tendency to fixate on those types of problems, said Fairbanks, a school facilitator at Weber Elementary School in Iowa City and trained behaviorist with a master鈥檚 degree in social work.

鈥淏y mid-April, we had essentially quit trying to go to school,鈥� he said about Cooper.

The biggest problem for kids who need individual educational plans is that Iowa鈥檚 school districts lack important resources from the state, Fairbanks said.

In the spring of 2020, many schools in Iowa were not able to supply laptops immediately to all of their students for online learning, Fairbanks said. On top of that, Cooper鈥檚 therapy was moved to online so Fairbanks needed to buy his son a laptop.

As Cooper began to use Zoom frequently, he became proficient with it. But, within a few months, he had gotten tired of sitting on a computer every day. Cooper will stay online until fall, although he wants to be back in the classroom with his peers, Fairbanks said.

Online learning has not been a fight for everyone on the spectrum. 鈥淚 have had a handful of patients that this has been a far more beneficial experience for,鈥� Lisa Henry, an education consultant at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children鈥檚 Hospital, said.

Several of Henry鈥檚 students have found that online learning gives them the ability to avoid a distracting setting, she said. The pace of learning also can be adjusted online to better suit these and they retain more information than they may in person.

Some of these families have chosen to stay fully virtual now that students are back in school, Henry said.

The comfort level students on the spectrum have is mixed in the Iowa City Community School District. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen some students who have really flourished in a setting where that anxiety of being around peers isn鈥檛 there,鈥� Kristin Fechner, the district鈥檚 instruction design strategist, said. 鈥淥n the flip side we鈥檝e seen that it鈥檚 really hard to decipher between school and being at home in their bedroom.鈥�

Kelly Postman, a special education teacher for grades kindergarten through sixth at Iowa City鈥檚 Weber Elementary, said knowing her students on the spectrum would not get attention online that they needed was stressful personally. This is her second year teaching at the school.

Connecting with students was hard via computer and she said she felt isolated from them. Each week she wrote a postcard for each student. She said she also went to toy stores to buy manipulatives and put together packets for students to use at home. Manipulatives are toys and tools meant to help kids learn certain skills, like learning math with play money or telling time with a toy clock.

Postman provided her students with tests that monitored their progress but advocated for her students to take these quizzes on their own, without their guardians鈥� assistance, in order to obtain accurate data.

Postman noticed when students on the spectrum for online classes began to lose their attention halfway through their sessions. 鈥淪ome kids need to be here, they need to have that physicality of being in school. And, there are some that do very well being at home and just Zooming in,鈥� she said.

One silver lining that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning is increased collaboration between teachers and families, Fechner said. Educators are able to get a glimpse into students鈥� home lives, and parents get to see how their child works in a school setting.

During a normal school year, parents check in with how their child is doing during parent-teacher conferences.

Back to the Classroom

Will Clark went back to preschool in person in January. His mother said the transition returning to the same classroom he had learned in the previous year, and with the same paraeducator, made the move easy. Will also returned to in-person speech therapy.

Glass said Will is going to most likely stay in preschool for another year, as she isn鈥檛 sure if he鈥檚 ready for kindergarten. Outside of school, Will鈥檚 next big step is swimming lessons.

Glass said the problem won鈥檛 be getting him into the water but, rather, getting him out. Will loves water so much, she said, that she has worried about him being in danger of drowning because of his curiosity.

Doctors have told her that Will can 鈥渇unction in society on his own,鈥� which gave her a sense of relief, Glass said. Even with the obstacles Will has faced this year, learning how to do things like identifying pictures in therapy have given her hope for his future.

鈥淎s a parent, you want to see your kids succeed, you want to see them be successful. And when you get a diagnosis like that, it鈥檚 not something where obviously, it鈥檚 not 鈥� life ending,鈥� Glass said. 鈥淏ut, it does change the course that you had set out for your kids,鈥� she said.

鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful for where he will go, and I鈥檓 excited for his future because he is doing so well.鈥�

This article was produced by the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch, a non-profit, online news website that collaborates with news organizations to produce explanatory and investigative reporting. Read more at . Kaitlin Laing and Sean Bock contributed reporting for this story, a project of a University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication spring 2021 class. 

But new findings suggest that among many families, demand for remote or hybrid learning may not be so great.

More than eight in 10 parents surveyed (84 percent) now say they plan to send at least one of their children back for in-person schooling this fall, with another 12 percent unsure of their plans. Just five percent plan to keep their children home for the upcoming school year.

But the findings, released Thursday by researchers at the RAND Corp., come with stark differences between white parents and parents of color, among others.

Black and Hispanic parents 鈥渁re the ones who are least sure they’re going to send their kids back to school in person,鈥� said RAND researcher Heather Schwartz. While just 10 percent of white parents said they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot sure鈥� of their plans or that they plan to keep their kids home, 28 percent of Black parents and 27 percent of Hispanic parents said the same.

If they do send their children back, she noted, most want mask mandates. That鈥檚 true of 86 percent of black parents, 78 percent of Hispanic parents, and 89 percent of Asian parents. By contrast, just 53 percent of white parents feel the same way.

Parents of color also want regular COVID testing 鈥� the split between black and white parents, for instance, is nearly 40 percentage points (74 vs. 36 percent).

In many districts, researchers have noted, Black families have been reluctant to let their children return to in-person school, often citing distrust in schools鈥� or discipline policies. In Chicago earlier this year, average in-person attendance for white students was 73 percent, the reported. For Black students, it was less than 50 percent.

Even the that parents of color are 鈥渕ore concerned about some aspects of school reopening, such as compliance with mitigation measures, safety, and their child contracting or bringing home COVID-19,鈥� than were white parents.

In a New York Times op-ed this week, RiShawn Biddle, a fellow with the non-partisan think tank , said recent announcements by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to end remote instruction in the fall are 鈥渂ad news for a majority of the country鈥檚 Black, Latino and Asian students and their parents who wish to keep virtual learning as an option.鈥� The move, Biddle said, 鈥渆xacerbates already-existing educational and health care inequities.鈥�

Despite the differences, however, Schwartz said one finding seems fairly consistent: 鈥淎cross the board, parents want ventilation,鈥� she said.

Classroom ventilation is the top measure parents say schools must put in place for them to feel safe sending their children back to school in person 鈥� it鈥檚 more important than masks, social distancing and even teacher vaccinations, the data show.

Schwartz said the survey suggests that schools could allay parents鈥� fears by 鈥渃ommunicating very clearly about what specific safety measures they are putting in place.鈥�

Overall, two-thirds of parents want schools to keep COVID-19 safety measures, though rural and white parents are much more likely to prefer that schools 鈥渞educe or discontinue鈥� their pandemic-related safety precautions. Black, Hispanic, Asian, and urban parents are much more likely to prefer that schools keep them, according to the survey, which was administered to 2,015 parents from April 30 to May 11.

Among parents who don鈥檛 plan to send their children to school this fall, the top reasons are safety-related. Nearly one in three (31 percent) said, 鈥淢y child(ren) feel safer in remote school,鈥� while nearly as many said they鈥檙e concerned about their child transmitting or contracting COVID-19.

Twenty-two percent said they鈥檙e staying home because their children 鈥渓ike remote school better.鈥�

And just five percent said they prefer homeschooling their children, while only two percent said their children either have a job they鈥檇 have to quit or that they must care for younger siblings.

For Maritza Guridy, a mother of four in Philadelphia, safety is a big concern. She plans to send her children back to in-person schooling in the fall 鈥� Guridy is a secretary at the school that three of them will attend. But she understands that nervous parents want choices, especially those in multi-generational homes or with immunocompromised family members.

鈥淭he fact that some states are deciding not to even give parents a choice is very unfair,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are a lot of parents that are still very scared and very worried because they’re still not even sure with certainty as to whether or not other children or even adults in the building have been vaccinated or are COVID-free.鈥�

At her school, Guridy said, adults have been tested weekly since April. 鈥淣ot every school district, not every school across the country, has had that possibility,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd there are still adults that for their own personal reasons have chosen not to vaccinate themselves.鈥�

The new survey results also suggest that children鈥檚 vaccinations, while a game-changer for many families, aren鈥檛 finding universal acceptance among parents. Just 52 percent said they planned to vaccinate their children, while another 17 percent were 鈥渦nsure.鈥�

The Biden administration has pushed to get 70 percent of eligible Americans vaccinated by July 4, last month announcing a partnership with the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber to provide free rides to vaccination sites. Biden also said the nation鈥檚 largest community colleges will host vaccination clinics through the end of June. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund 鈥渙n-the-ground efforts鈥� to promote vaccination, such as phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, and pop-up vaccination sites in workplaces and churches.

The new findings stand in stark contrast to this spring. One, from NPR, found that 29 percent of parents were 鈥渓ikely to stick with remote learning indefinitely.鈥�

A by the National Parents Union found similar results to NPR in most regions: in the Midwest, 21 percent of parents said they preferred hybrid instruction to in-person instruction.

RAND鈥檚 Schwartz noted that her data have a large, 12 percent 鈥渦ndecided鈥� group to consider. She also said a portion of the difference in findings could be due to how the survey questions are worded. Unlike others, hers didn鈥檛 ask parents about preferences 鈥� it asked about actual plans. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little more cut-and-dried,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not 鈥榃hat would you like? Would you like an option?鈥� When you think about it, who doesn’t like an option?鈥�

Brooklyn, N.Y., parent Amanda Zinoman said she鈥檚 ready for in-person schooling to resume. 鈥淚’m very excited for my son to go back to school full-time,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I understand that if you don鈥檛 want to send your kid to school, there should be an alternative.鈥�

Zinoman, whose 11-year-old, Jonah, has attended his small public middle school from home all year, said she has all but written off 2020-2021, which she said 鈥渇eels like a bit of a lost year鈥� for him.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a tough situation all around,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut my feeling is that kids need to be in school. I think that kids who thrive at home are a small minority 鈥� especially at my son鈥檚 age, adolescence. They need the social [interaction], they need the attention, and they need to be with people other than their parents.鈥�

When New York Mayor Bill de Blasio last month said he鈥檚 requiring all city students, teachers, and staff to show up to school this fall in-person, no exceptions, he stunned longtime observers of the nation鈥檚 largest public school system.

鈥淵ou would think that online learning was some new frontier for the New York City Department of Education that had never been tried before,鈥� said Tom Liam Lynch, a former teacher who is editor-in-chief of the parent-focused city website .

The reality, he and others say, is that the city has spent millions of dollars and much of the last decade leading the way on innovations in the realm of remote, blended, and personalized learning. For de Blasio to push for 100 percent in-person schooling, Lynch and others say, is a significant turnaround.

At the moment, more than six in 10 New York City students are still learning from home, but de Blasio on May 23 said that will soon come to an end, telling MSNBC鈥檚 , 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have a full recovery without full-strength schools, everyone back, sitting in those classrooms, kids learning again.鈥�

The change will affect about 1 million students.

For Lynch, who also directs education policy for the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, the announcement seemed to ignore educators鈥� efforts to strengthen the city鈥檚 distance learning capabilities 鈥� work that could have given students a leg up during the worst of the pandemic.

In 2010, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools Chancellor Joel Klein, the city鈥檚 Innovation Zone, or iZone, debuted with a ton of fanfare. At its heart was an experimental effort called iLearn, a blended learning system that sought to personalize instruction by allowing students in selected schools to learn remotely in many cases 鈥� schools used the system for everything from 鈥渙ccasional online credit recovery to full-blown blended learning and flipped-classroom models,鈥� .

It debuted with 81 schools, a number that soon doubled.

iZone also gave 50 middle- and high-school leaders an opportunity to redesign their schools. And it incubated a middle-school math program, known as School of One (now called Teach to One), that allowed students to work independently online from within their school. A digital display, reminiscent of an airport 鈥渁rriving flights鈥� screen, directed students to individualized lessons from dozens of providers.

Among School of One鈥檚 most significant innovations was a back-end data system that gave teachers real-time reports for each student, guiding upcoming assignments and directing them to small groups for help. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a model that seems certain to make us question assumptions about how we organize classrooms and schools,鈥� the journal noted in 2011.

iZone鈥檚 high-tech appeal was 鈥渢he easiest to grasp 鈥� and 鈥榠Zone鈥� had 鈥榠鈥� in front of the name,鈥� said Steven Hodas, who led the program until 2014. 鈥淏ut that was really just part of a theory of action that was about fundamentally rethinking time, space, and place.鈥�

Sea change under de Blasio

iZone was expected to grow to 400 schools, but the program underwent what can only be described as a meltdown in 2014, after federal innovation grants dried up and de Blasio, a Democrat, became mayor. New Chancellor Carmen Fari帽a disbanded the office that oversaw the program, and soon several directors and staffers, including Hodas, resigned.

Simultaneously, Fari帽a worked with the city鈥檚 teachers union, United Federation of Teachers, to bring in its own 鈥渋nnovation program,鈥� dubbed Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence, or PROSE.

The result: iZone鈥檚 budget shrank from $47 million in 2013 to $3.2 million in 2017, reported. It went from a staff of 65 to just 14.

Today, clicking on iZone鈥檚 URL delivers a saying it doesn鈥檛 exist.

Research on remote schooling is mixed. A 2019 by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder鈥檚 National Education Policy Center found that graduation rates at virtual and blended-learning schools were far lower than the national 85 percent average for public schools.

While have said iZone and similar ideas are promising for big-city systems, no large-scale evaluations of iZone have emerged since 2014. One small 2017 study by a graduate student at New York鈥檚 St. John鈥檚 University found that students in iLearn 鈥渂lended learning鈥� programs statistically significant greater mean scores in Algebra I Regents exams than their peers in traditional schools.

A few of the efforts, such as the personalized system under School of One, are still operating in a handful of schools, but observers say the effort has diminished in importance in the face of de Blasio鈥檚 new priorities, such as community schools and universal pre-K.

As for PROSE, a by the advocacy group StudentsFirstNY found that schools in the program displayed 鈥渓imited innovation,鈥� as well as 鈥渓ackluster improvement,鈥� producing lower reading and math scores than others in the city. It also said the program suffered from poor transparency, noting that the city took 14 months to respond 鈥� incompletely, as it turns out 鈥� to a public records request.

For Lynch, a parent of a city middle-schooler, the shift that took place around 2014 helps explain why New York, like other districts, has struggled to meet kids鈥� needs over the past year.

鈥淭his is not just a story of another big school district [that] just scrambled and tried to figure out online learning as best they could,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his was a system that had actually, infrastructurally been set up for online learning 鈥� and to scale it. …Who made the call to essentially disempower and, if not defund that work, to really just relegate it to the periphery? Because that makes what happened last March even more inexcusable. And it makes this announcement even more unacceptable.鈥�

Sarah Cohodes, an economics and education professor at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College, said what鈥檚 most striking about de Blasio鈥檚 announcement is that it follows the city鈥檚 鈥渉uge investment鈥� in getting devices and Internet access into students鈥� hands over the past year, even announcing a virtual end to snow days. 鈥淚n my imagination, that was happening in the context of having some sort of remote infrastructure that could be turned on or off for more or fewer kids depending on the circumstances. So I’m not sure exactly what they are expecting those days to be like,鈥� she said.

Longtime education researcher said losing remote learning will take a toll: 鈥淭he great thing about New York has been that many different things have been available 鈥� alternative schools and alternative pathways to graduation. And some of those have actually been helped along by the development of pretty good online materials.鈥�

Asked whether any schools would be allowed to operate remotely in the fall, city schools officials referred to the city鈥檚 reopening announcement. In it, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew says the union welcomes 鈥渢he return to in-person instruction for all students in September.鈥� But even Mulgrew has pleaded for a remote option, last month that the city should create 鈥渁 small but efficient remote alternative for parents who still feel they need it.鈥�

De Blasio isn鈥檛 the only leader cutting off remote learning this fall. Across the Hudson River, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on May 17 that the state鈥檚 public schools would similarly return to in-person instruction. In Connecticut, officials have said they 鈥� the need to mandate鈥� remote learning in the fall.

鈥業 think it鈥檚 crazy鈥�

Meanwhile, at least six states have created iZones of their own, according to .

鈥淎round the country I鈥檓 hearing about more states, and more districts, that are really integrating innovation into their core strategy,鈥� said Joel Rose, who founded and led School of One in its heyday. 鈥淭hey’re saying, 鈥楲ook, remote learning didn鈥檛 work for everyone, but it did work for some kids.鈥� And the question is, 鈥榃hat can we learn from those experiences for when kids come back?鈥欌��

He noted that so-called , modeled after iZone principles, have taken root in Texas and are 鈥済rowing quite a bit in popularity.鈥�

Rose, who now runs , a nonprofit that is working to expand the School of One model nationwide, said the organization has seen 鈥渁 significant uptick in demand for what we do鈥� since the pandemic began.

Hill, who founded the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington-Bothell, said many students have realized during the pandemic that school 鈥渋s a pretty tough place for them to be. And to kind of ignore all that, I think, is going to further weaken the support base of public education.鈥�

After his Morning Joe announcement, de Blasio told a news briefing, 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for everyone to come back, it鈥檚 time for us all to be together, time to do things the way they were meant to be done.鈥� But iZone鈥檚 Hodas, now a senior fellow at CRPE, took issue with the idea that online learning is somehow inferior.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 crazy that it鈥檚 being positioned as purely a negative space,鈥� he said. In New York as elsewhere, many students aren鈥檛 thrilled with the prospect of 鈥渟chlepping back to these shitty, oppressive environments five days a week to do pretend life.鈥�

Older students, he said, could be working or helping out with family duties. 鈥淭hey could be progressing at their own pace at different subjects, and they can do something that鈥檚 much more competency-based. And it鈥檚 just nuts that de Blasio is acting as if, again, for high school kids, being back in school is like the Holy Grail. It鈥檚 not, for a lot of people.鈥�

As more Americans receive Covid-19 vaccines and schools move to reopen widely, leaders are doing their best to make sure everyone gets the memo: School is happening in-person this fall.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently , 鈥淲e must prepare now for full in-person instruction come next school year.鈥�

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said in March he is 鈥溾�� schools across the state to return in-person in the fall, no exceptions. 鈥淲e are expecting Monday through Friday, in-person, every school, every district,鈥� he said.

Good luck with that.

Even as vaccination rates soar and the government authorizes access for adolescents, school districts nationwide are grappling with sometimes widespread suspicion and dissatisfaction over how they handled the pandemic, especially in communities of color. That鈥檚 forcing them to offer families an option that might have been unthinkable a year ago 鈥� and one that has a terrible track record: enrolling their children online this fall and continuing learning from home.

Dawn Williams, whose daughter will start first grade in August in Maryland鈥檚 Prince George鈥檚 County, said she鈥檚 seriously considering an online program. 鈥淢ost of my friends that have children, their kids are still virtual,鈥� she said.

So far it鈥檚 happening in just a fraction of the nation鈥檚 13,500 districts. But those include a wide mix of rural and suburban districts, as well as large urban school systems like Albuquerque, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Indianapolis, Nashville, Omaha, Richmond, and the District of Columbia, according to the University of Washington鈥檚 Center for the Reinvention of Public Education (CRPE).

In Colorado鈥檚 Jefferson County, the school district, responding to 鈥渉igh demand鈥� from families, an online option in the fall. District spokesperson Cameron Bell said more than 700 students have enrolled so far, with at least 1,000 expected by August.

In Montgomery County, the largest school district in Maryland, officials are developing a virtual academy 鈥渢o address both the students who may want to remain virtual for health reasons but also those who have thrived in virtual learning,鈥� said spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala.

What鈥檚 going on here?

Much of this can be chalked up to simple consumer demand. One recent found that nearly 30 percent of parents would rely on virtual learning 鈥渋ndefinitely鈥� going forward. That suggests a potential market of more than 15 million students.

Districts are listening. When RAND researchers surveyed about 320 public school leaders last October, they found that were either considering or actually planning to keep 鈥渙ne or more virtual schools鈥� operating after the pandemic ends, said RAND鈥檚 Heather Schwartz.

鈥淚 expect that to hold, or even to increase somewhat based on early anecdotal indications that a sizable minority of students and parents prefer remote learning,鈥� Schwartz said via email.

More recently, in early April, researchers at CRPE surveyed officials in 100 large urban school districts and found nearly identical results: 23, or just over one in five, plan to offer a remote option next fall.

District leaders told Schwartz and other researchers that their main motivation was 鈥渢o be responsive to parent and student preferences鈥� 鈥� and in no small part to improve sagging enrollments. of 33 states by The Associated Press and the education news site Chalkbeat found that public K-12 enrollment in 2020 dropped by more than half a million students, or 2 percent.

鈥淵ou keep hearing this word: 鈥榯hriving鈥欌��

As he talks these days to school leaders nationwide, education consultant John Bailey said he hears many of them say they plan to make online learning 鈥渁 more permanent part of their offering to kids going forward.鈥� A one-time U.S. Department of Education official who now advises the Walton Family Foundation, Bailey has supported the idea that reopening schools is safe. He said that while many educators acknowledge millions of students lost ground via distance learning, 鈥渇or some kids, it鈥檚 working really well. So why not offer that going forward?鈥�

Nationwide, families of color are keeping their children home at especially high rates. In Chicago, the district鈥檚 chief of school management told school board members late last month that most students are 鈥渓earning virtually.鈥� But about one in four Black high school students was absent from both in-person and remote learning in late April. Overall, only about two-thirds of high school students attended in-person classes on days they were expected in school, the Chicago Sun-Times .

At the same time, Asian fourth-graders attend school remotely at the of any group 鈥� 95 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Eighth-graders attend at an even higher rate: 96 percent. Asian families have expressed fears about their children experiencing anti-Asian discrimination or even violence in the wake of the pandemic.

While state and local restrictions can play a part in attendance statistics like these, many families are simply voting with their feet, said Bree Dusseault, a practitioner in residence at CRPE.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still a really sizable population of students who, even when given the option to be in-person, aren鈥檛 taking it,鈥� she said.

鈥淵ou keep hearing this word: 鈥榯hriving鈥� 鈥� particularly in families of color,鈥� said Annette Anderson, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools in Baltimore. 鈥淒istricts have never had to wrestle with 鈥楬ow do we provide education in multiple formats?鈥� They thought this was a stopgap. Now what I think they鈥檙e finding is that there are many parents that were just fine with virtual learning.鈥�

Anderson, a Black educator who is also a mother of three teens, said the past year has taught parents 鈥渢hat they have a voice at the table 鈥� and they are not being shy and retiring about letting people know what they want in terms of how they want their children to learn.鈥�

Recent survey data suggest that Black, Hispanic and Asian parents are more likely than their white peers to say they prefer online learning. For instance, the journal recently noted data from early April that showed 60 percent of white parents have a preference for in-person learning, compared to just 25 percent of Black and Hispanic parents.

At the same time, Dusseault said, many parents of color see how badly education systems have served their kids in the past, with substandard instruction and .

When Anderson surveyed her three children recently, none wanted to go back to their Baltimore school this fall. They like learning from home and have been successful.

鈥淚 think my kids sometimes miss their friends,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut aside from that, I don鈥檛 have any of my three children saying right now, 鈥楳om, I want to go back to school today or tomorrow.鈥� They have adapted to this.鈥�

Anderson was quick to add that her kids 鈥渉ave every kind of technology possible,鈥� as well as space at home to use it. All three have their own rooms, plus their home has a backyard. But whatever their situations, she said, 鈥淭here are a lot of kids who are at home and they鈥檙e thriving. You can鈥檛 negate the success of those students and the opportunity that they have had to be separated from their peers and still do well academically.鈥�

Williams, mother of the Maryland first-grader, said her daughter is already doing advanced work 鈥� and she鈥檇 like to keep it that way. Giving her child a chance to work virtually and independently is key.

鈥淪tudents that are more advanced 鈥� and parents that have the choice 鈥� we鈥檙e going to keep our kids home,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose kids are going to accelerate. They’re going to soar and they鈥檙e going to keep advancing.鈥�

鈥淪chool hesitancy鈥� and safety

Vladimir Kogan, an Ohio State University political scientist who studies politics and public policy, said 鈥渟chool hesitancy鈥� may in part be a function of the messages families hear 鈥� especially in places where teachers鈥� unions loudly demonstrated last year, enacting and the like to warn of the dangers of reopening schools.

鈥淚 think that messaging has definitely filtered down to the parents,鈥� he said.

But has shown that when prevention strategies are in place in schools, transmission of the virus is typically lower than, or similar to, levels of community transmission, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As a result, public opinion is shifting. A February Pew found that 61 percent of Americans said K-12 schools that weren鈥檛 open for in-person instruction 鈥渟hould give a lot of consideration to the possibility that students will fall behind academically.鈥� That鈥檚 up from 48 percent last July. And fewer Americans said schools should give a lot of consideration to the risk to teachers or students.

鈥淚 think the number of parents who are hesitant is going to go down pretty substantially,鈥� Kogan said. 鈥淏ut I don’t think it’s going to go down to zero.鈥�

Bailey, who recently summarizing research on safe school re-openings amid Covid fears, predicted that there will be a group of parents 鈥渨ho will probably never feel that it鈥檚 safe until there鈥檚 a vaccine for kids.鈥�

The prognosis on vaccines seems promising: This week, both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved expanded use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 12 to 15 years old. Pfizer also said it鈥檒l ask the FDA for emergency authorization in September to administer its vaccine to children as young as 2 years old.

Both Johnson & Johnson and Moderna are conducting trials in children.The U.S. vaccine developer Novavax is also on children 鈥� its vaccine has a reported 96 percent efficacy rate in adults and is awaiting emergency use authorization in the U.S.

A 鈥渞eally terrible鈥� track record for virtual schools

Kogan, the political scientist, worries that by relying on virtual schools, districts are embracing a well-studied 鈥� and failed 鈥� reform.

In a 2019 , researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder鈥檚 National Education Policy Center found that graduation rates at virtual and blended-learning schools were far lower than the national average for public schools. The review followed years of from researchers nationwide.

In 2016, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, along with other groups, issued 鈥淎 Call to Action鈥� to , saying far too many virtual schools 鈥渉ave experienced notable problems.鈥�

At the student level, most of the dilemma lies in what鈥檚 required for students to be successful in virtual settings: huge amounts of self-control, motivation and discipline, said Kogan, who last January that found worse declines in reading achievement among Ohio third-graders in districts that used fully remote instruction.

The track record of these programs 鈥渨as terrible before Covid,鈥� Kogan said. 鈥淎nd I think it鈥檚 certainly the case that there are kids who do fine. But the districts are not saying, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to limit it only to kids who do fine.鈥欌��

To be fair, many educators get it. In its announcement of a 鈥渕odified digital learning option,鈥� the , district last month offered an official warning: 鈥淒igital learning is not optimal for every student. Some students did not do as well academically, socially, or emotionally in the digital learning environment.鈥�

In the long term, Kogan said, his larger worry is that this could open the door to a two-tier education system: a bigger, functional one for students whose parents are comfortable sending them to school, and a smaller, inferior one 鈥渇or kids whose parents are too scared and keep them home.鈥�

The long-term damage, he said, 鈥渋s going to be so devastating. It鈥檚 going to exacerbate all the inequalities that we already have.鈥�

Anderson, the Baltimore educator and mother, acknowledged the dilemma, but emphasized it was nothing new: Millions of kids weren鈥檛 being served well before the pandemic. Here鈥檚 a chance for something better, especially for students of color who are already staying away in large numbers.

While leaders may insist that everyone attend in-person on the first day of school this fall, Anderson said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not hearing what is going to significantly shift over the summer that is going to make sure that these large numbers of families of color are going to suddenly show up in September.鈥�

As districts across the United States consider how to get student learning back on track and fortify parent interest in public schools, they鈥檙e asking the same question as Steve Joel: What should we keep after the pandemic?

The superintendent in Lincoln, Nebraska, says a district survey this past fall found that 10% of parents liked remote learning 鈥� pandemic or not. Nationally, say they are likely to choose virtual instruction indefinitely for their children, according to a February NPR/Ipsos poll.

While the end of the pandemic is likely still months off, the White House has called for most K-8 schools to reopen by May, with in-person instruction at least one day a week, prolonging the possibility of distance learning.

Though virtual challenges remain 鈥� like teacher burnout and learning loss 鈥� some districts are pinpointing remote practices worth keeping. Sifting out solutions from the struggle may help solve chronic problems of quality and equity, say education experts.

鈥淎fter a moment of disruption 鈥� of major disruption 鈥� the conditions are ripe for accelerating innovation,鈥� says Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education. 鈥淲e are in that moment now in education.鈥�

Hints of a remote learning legacy are emerging. The digital pivot made some districts solve preexisting tech gaps. Educators explored new social-emotional supports with heightened attention to mental health. And parents have transformed into stronger collaborators in their children鈥檚 learning.

Leveraging such changes long term could be a matter of public school survival. Dr. Joel says his district, where a majority of K-12 learners are in person, is experiencing its first school-year enrollment decline in two decades.

鈥淲e really don鈥檛 want to do remote learning as a stand-alone [option],鈥� says Dr. Joel, who has concerns about the instruction quality of remote learning. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 have any choice,鈥� he adds, noting that because some parents like remote learning, they might seek alternatives to the district.

To navigate tough choices ahead, he joins district leaders nationwide analyzing what has worked.

Unexpected gains in equity

One school district in New York state is making inroads into inequities through a new notion of discipline. Remote learning has changed the approach to out-of-school suspension at Shenendehowa Central School District, where more than a fourth of students identify as nonwhite.

Grades K-5 in the district are in person, but middle and high schools are mostly hybrid. With the ability to log into lessons online, students at the secondary level won鈥檛 have to miss instruction even if they鈥檙e suspended, says Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson. It鈥檚 one way pandemic adjustments can address long-term.

During the 2015-16 school year, Black students in the district faced out-of-school suspension at 3.4 times the rate of white students, according to an of federal data by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The disparity was slightly steeper on average (3.9 times) for districts across the New York Capital Region.

Before, out-of-school suspension risked academic setback for students, says Dr. Robinson, since it was sometimes logistically difficult to arrange tutors. Now with virtual options, suspended students can continue learning alongside their class. Though discipline issues declined during the pandemic, suspension remains a deterrent because too many infractions threaten student graduation.

鈥淸Racial] disproportionality in things like suspension is real,鈥� Dr. Robinson says. 鈥淯ntil that is completely addressed, the impact of the disproportionality can be significantly minimized or mitigated.鈥�

While students ultimately may go back to in-person learning, remote learning will remain a possibility for suspended students 鈥渨henever feasible,鈥� he says.

The pandemic also made it clearer that students can connect to coursework offered beyond their buildings. To soften the blow of class cancellations, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) collaborated with dual enrollment partners to offer high schoolers online college-credit classes last summer. Flexible Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding meant the college could offer the program tuition-free.

was a way to 鈥済ive back鈥� to students potentially impacted by learning loss and prepare them for college in the fall, says NOVA鈥檚 dual enrollment director Amy Nearman. Nearly 3,000 students enrolled, mostly graduating seniors.

The college benefited, too. JumpStart provided a pipeline to NOVA as more than a third of students enrolled in the fall (while community college enrollment fell by around 10% at the start of the school year compared with 2019, NOVA enrollment increased by 2%). The program also bolstered access to learning opportunities at times limited by availability and affordability. With JumpStart, says Ms. Nearman, 鈥渁ll of our students could have the same access to programming and not have to worry about, well, my parents can鈥檛 afford it.鈥�

Federal funds help narrow the digital divide

Millions of students still face access issues. But between the start of the pandemic and December 2020, up to 12% of K-12 public school students gained internet connectivity who lacked it previously, and a similar share of students got access to digital devices, estimates Titilayo Tinubu Ali, senior director of research and policy at the Southern Education Foundation.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited鈥� about districts taking this seriously, says Ms. Ali, co-author of a on the tech gap. 鈥淭he benefits of digital equity go far beyond education. … They have an implication for how students and their parents鈥� quality of life will be.鈥�

The researchers found that most of these solutions are short term, however, and will require more funding.

In Utah, the Murray City School District had been slowly developing a broadband network for students for two years when funding from the CARES Act helped the district speed up the rollout. In January, the district activated stronger radio towers that have allowed around 90 students in primarily low-income areas to log on. The district hopes to expand access to all 6,000 students by mid-April.

Now, though five of Jeannette Bowen鈥檚 children are back at Murray schools in person, the whole crew can log in simultaneously to the district network to do homework without disrupting their household internet. And the district network is useful when a child needs to stay home from school.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a reassurance as a parent to know they can get on and they can learn just like their peers in person,鈥� says Ms. Bowen.

鈥淭his will be part of our Murray culture now,鈥� says Superintendent Jennifer Covington.

There鈥檚 nothing new about trying to equip students with tech devices, but the pandemic spur to prioritize, fund, and accelerate that process will help students for years to come 鈥� especially as districts maintain online offerings. One in 5 school systems report that they have already adopted a fully virtual school option, or are considering adopting this in the future, according to the .

Educators in the suburban Chicago North Shore School District 112 retooled after determining that many of the available tech devices weren鈥檛 good enough to handle constant use during distance learning, says Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld.

鈥淭his was a real awakening,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e were trying hard, but there were some things that just didn鈥檛 work.鈥�

The district put $1.6 million toward new iPads for every student in K-5 and all staff pre-K-8. A standardized inventory shared by all learners 鈥渆qualizes the playing field,鈥� says Dr. Lubelfeld.

Heightened focus on communication

How schools communicate with parents and how they check on the well-being of students have improved.

Tweaks to services for students, for example, resulted from a more empathetic understanding of individual student needs, says Dr. Robinson in New York.

鈥淭he question became: How much do we really know our students?鈥� he says.

Based on input from students and parents, educators in his district relaxed rigid deadlines and grades. And teachers were forced to develop more methodical lesson plans that allow both virtual and in-person students to keep up. In some cases, the slowed instruction enhanced student understanding, says Dr. Robinson.

Remote options give students better access to school services like tutoring 鈥� something that, by nature, was limited and complex in the past because parents had to schedule pickups and drop-offs, he says. Now, he adds, students have more control than ever over their 鈥渁cademic destiny.鈥�

Offering virtual tutoring followed the district鈥檚 realization, he says, about 鈥渉ow much young people were hostages, if you will, to the availability of adults in their lives.鈥�

This expanded sense of possibilities, says Dr. Robinson, could have benefited students even before the pandemic, and is likely to outlast it.

The pandemic has increased mental health awareness, says Dr. Lubelfeld in Illinois. His district began one-on-one check-ins between students and mental health professionals last summer over Zoom, as well as home visits as needed. He expects the practice to continue beyond the pandemic.

鈥淓verybody needs a check-in. And if someone hasn鈥檛 been heard of in a day or two, we need to have a triage,鈥� says Dr. Lubelfeld, whose district will transition from hybrid to full in-person learning next month.

That kind of change in mental health awareness is also happening educator by educator. In St. Louis, a seventh-grade language arts teacher adapted her own classroom check-ins.

Before the pandemic, Adia Turner asked her Long International Middle School students to place sticky notes with their name on a 鈥渕ental health wall鈥� within categories that spelled out different feelings. Sometimes the exercise prompted her to follow up with individual concerns.

With the shift to digital learning, she collects that data through private weekly Microsoft Forms 鈥� using memes to illustrate moods 鈥� and has expanded her questions to include what they鈥檙e grateful for. One student expressed thanks for the 鈥渃lothes on my back and food in my house.鈥�

Ms. Turner has kept up this 鈥渘ecessary part of our day鈥� even though two of her three classes are back in school.

鈥淭he ones who do participate, you can tell they gain a lot from it just by how intentional and thoughtful their answers are,鈥� she says.

Stronger parent-school partnerships

Virtual communication has offered an efficient replacement for in-school conferences, which were often derailed by parent work schedules and child care.

An online Parent Academy 鈥� a digital extension of an already-existing initiative 鈥� was launched in Georgia鈥檚 Clayton County Public Schools last spring. Supported by federal funds, it coaches parents on topics like constructive study routines, how to monitor student progress, and new vocabulary specific to the digital classroom. The frequent workshops also offer translation services for families whose first language isn鈥檛 English.

Parent involvement is 鈥渃ritical,鈥� says Assistant Superintendent Ebony Lee. And the district, currently fully virtual, plans to continue the academy because of positive feedback from parents like Kimberly Brown-Mack, the mother of an 11th grade student.

The online option is 鈥渁 lot better for most of us parents who are working,鈥� says Ms. Brown-Mack, a student support specialist in another district. 鈥淚t is vitally important that parents have access to being able to continue to do virtual workshops.鈥�

New York City鈥檚 Success Academy, a public charter of 20,000 students studying virtually, has turned to Zoom for all parent meetings.

鈥淲e can much more easily gather parents, explain things, get their feedback when they鈥檙e unhappy or upset about something,鈥� says CEO Eva Moskowitz, adding it has bolstered parent partnership.

Because all Success Academy students have school-issued laptops or tablets, that means all parents are equipped to attend remote meetings, which the charter operator plans to continue indefinitely.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 want to go back to a world where we didn鈥檛 prioritize parental convenience,鈥� says Dr. Moskowitz.

Sustaining lessons learned

Some learners , but sustaining the progress of all students has demanded flexibility from educators.

鈥淚 think we鈥檝e learned how to more individualize and differentiate instruction,鈥� says Dr. Joel in Nebraska. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e always been good at that, but I think we became a lot better at it.鈥�

That flexibility is emblematic of a spirit that Ms. Covington, in Utah, says must be embraced: 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 come out of this pandemic learning new ways to do things, it will be our loss.鈥�

Sarah Matusek is a staff writer at The Christian Science Monitor