The Flagstaff Unified School District Governing Board’s Tuesday approval of a phased return to schools targeted for March was not enough to satiate all students and parents, about 100 of whom lined the sidewalk in front of Flagstaff City Hall Wednesday afternoon to demand local schools be reopened.
“They were talking about going back after spring break and when their benchmarks are met -- which is the same baloney we’ve heard in the past, so they keep moving it back,” said Christian Stoffel, 18, a senior at Flagstaff High School and organizer of the protest. “I want them to give us an exact date that we’re going back, not some generic time.”
Late last week, Stoffel sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey listing struggles of students attending school remotely and asking him to intervene to get FUSD students back in school.
Stoffel said of all aspects of school, the social interaction is what he misses most.
“Walking through the halls, if you’re having a bad day there’s at least one other kid that is having a bad day, too, and you can kind of talk to them and it’s therapeutic for you as well as them,” he said. “There’s a certain feeling you associate with school. There’s a feeling you get when you’re walking through the halls of school and there’s a feeling you get once you get off your class to go to lunch. I am devoid, and many other kids are devoid of that feeling and it’s draining.”
Stoffel was joined Wednesday at city hall by various classmates and supportive parents and families, even some who do not have children in FUSD schools.
Parent of two FUSD students Michael Oliver said he does not want to hear more conversation from the school board; like Stoffel, he wants to see action.
“It’s been fine, but they’re not getting the interaction that they need as children. They’re not getting that one-to-one interaction between other kids, between them and their teacher and it’s not a good quality education that FUSD is providing,” Oliver said. “They miss seeing their teacher, they miss interacting with other kids. That’s part of their development is interacting with other kids. I’m not a kid. They can interact with me all day, but I’m not a kid.”
Jane Becher, who grew up in Flagstaff, transferred her four children from FUSD schools to San Francisco de Asis Catholic School, which reopened for in-person classes in September at the beginning of the school year.
“I’ve realized that our kids have the fortune of being in a private school, but that’s a very small percentage of the Flagstaff kids, and I think all kids deserve a right to be in school,” Becher said of her participation at the protest.
But even with parent support, students’ voices were some of the protest’s loudest.
Thomas Elementary School fifth-grader Vonetta Merrell, 11, said remote learning is fine for her, though she misses her friends. She is more concerned about her brother, a high school senior who has started skipping his online classes.
When asked when she would like to return to school, her response came without hesitation: “Right now.”
Vonetta protested alongside Chloe Skinner, 12, a seventh-grade student at Montessori.
“I don’t like it at all,” she said of remote learning, admitting that she now cries daily because of school, a behavior that did not exist before her school closed.
A group of Flagstaff High School juniors similarly admitted their frustration at nearly a year of online learning, as well as a disappointment that some of the board’s earlier ideas, such as having separate groups of students return to school twice a week, have not even been attempted.
“I think it’s an inherently dangerous thing, but it can be handled correctly, like wearing masks and staying apart,” said Max Brown, 17, noting the prevalence of mental health issues and need for social connection among high school students -- which is not the same online. “I think it should be by choice, really. We don’t need to be either all in person or all online. There should be some balance.”
Matthew Spoelman, 17, who has ADHD, said his grades have plummeted this year because it is difficult to focus and keep up with school work from home.
“I would do basically anything to get back into school because this is our future. If we don’t get good grades in high school then we can’t go to college and then we can’t have a future,” he said. “This is putting us so far back.”
Even though they are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines themselves and are frequently around other people at their after-school jobs, the group said they would be comfortable with returning to school at this point in the pandemic, though they did express some concerns about the current community vaccination process.
“Essential workers can’t even get a vaccine but teachers who aren’t in person can. I find that pretty unfair,” said Will Colebank, 17, who works at a local grocery store and said he is fed up with remote learning. “I want to drop out. It’s that bad. It’s terrible. If I wasn’t relying on having a college education in my future, then I would totally be done with this.”
The targeted phased return to school approved by the FUSD Governing Board Tuesday would allow families to choose between in-person and remote learning, with the first students returning the week of March 22. Preschool, kindergarten, first, second, third, sixth, ninth and 12th grades, plus students in specialized programs, would return that week, with the remaining groups returning the following week.
In-person learning would be offered five days per week, with teachers simultaneously giving instruction to students who select online learning. Those who return to in-person learning will be required to practice the district’s mitigation strategies at school and be free of COVID-19 symptoms.
The board will further discuss the return to school and its benchmarks for reopening at its next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23.