Private schools seeing bump in enrollment interest as coronavirus pushes public schools to go remote
Private schools opting for in-person classes this fall are reporting an uptick in interest from families as public school districts roll out plans for online or hybrid learning.
“Some schools have already made the decision to go totally remote, which has totally enraged public school parents,” Boston Archdiocese Superintendent Thomas Carroll said.
Revere was the latest school district to declare a fully remote start to the fall semester on Monday. Five other school districts have done the same — Somerville, Lynn, Cambridge, Springfield and Weymouth.
It’s hard to quantify just how many public school students will ultimately enroll in private institutions at this point, but Carroll said it could be the saving grace for Catholic schools seeing a wave of closures amid the coronavirus pandemic. The school system has been struggling with decreasing enrollment and diminishing tuition dollars for decades, but the additional pinch from the coronavirus has caused 11 Catholic schools to close for good since March, the Herald previously reported.
The trend is playing out nationally, according to Myra McGovern, vice president of media at the National Association of Independent Schools, which represents more than 1,600 schools. McGovern told CBS the surge in private school interest can be attributed to parents needing more options for child care.
Public schools in Massachusetts have until Friday to finalize their plans and Dr. Vishakha Sabharwal, pediatric infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center said communities with high transmission rates should start the school year remotely. Massachusetts’ two largest teachers unions are pushing for the same.
A new white paper from the COVID-19 healthcare coalition takes an even more draconian approach, saying not to reopen schools until communities see fewer than one new case per day per 100,000 people.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2XNIMuF
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