PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A COVID-19 outbreak at a western Washington middle school is causing parents in other districts to worry their children's schools could be next.
Last week, Eatonville Middle School confirmed the building would close because of a rapid increase in coronavirus cases in several classrooms.
A 14-day closure and virtual learning began Monday. The district said it would consult the health department before resuming in-person instruction on Oct. 11.
A KING 5 news Facebook post about the outbreak and closure garnered reactions from several parents outside the Eatonville School District. They worried this situation might be a sign of things to come.
"It does worry me that it’s going to have a domino effect from district to district to district, and it’s going to close down our schools in the event there are numerous cases," said Brittany Hernandez, a Puyallup mother of a second and eighth-grader. "I just feel like the virtual learning for the kids... it’s just not enough for them. It did not work well for us."
Hernandez said her daughter, who is now in junior high, was becoming depressed when immersed in long-term virtual learning at home. Her son was a kindergartener when the pandemic hit, and she said it made it hard for him to understand what regular school days were supposed to be like.
With schools like Eatonville and the high and middle schools in Hoquiam turning to virtual learning due to COVID-19 cases, Hernandez said it seems like more closures in other districts are “inevitable.”
While Hernandez is prepared for more possible closures, she said her children thrive more when they are in the classroom learning from teachers alongside their peers.
"I feel going forward, in-person education is very crucial to being successful," said Hernandez. "Especially at my son's age. He’s learning how to read, he’s learning how to write, he’s learning social and developmental skills and making friends."
Hernandez also said making time for helping her children with virtual learning was a challenge while her husband works a day shift and she works a swing shift.
The same challenges would return if virtual learning were put back in place for her kids' schools.
In North Thurston, single mom of three Deanna Fluke also reacted to the closures of other schools, hoping her kids' schools would remain open for in-person learning.
Her youngest son, a second-grader in the North Thurston School District, is currently on day five of a 14-day quarantine. Fluke said she was notified about an exposure on a school bus her son rode on recently.
The switch back to at-home virtual learning has been tough.
"He’s struggling pretty bad," said Fluke. "Last year, his emotional and mental health suffered not being in the classroom. Being back in the classroom [this year], he’s bouncing up out of bed to go to school versus struggling with him to do a virtual learning platform. So, he’s back to, 'I don’t want to get up right now.'"
Fluke said her son's school provided a Chromebook for the quarantine period, but there is no live virtual teaching option while in-person learning is back in session.
"He doesn’t want to learn from a pre-recorded session," explained Fluke. "He doesn’t want to learn from videos and electronic activities. He wants to learn from his teachers. He wants to be in a classroom with his peers, and he’s just not excited about this at all."
Fluke said her son tested negative for COVID-19 since being alerted to the exposure. She said her son was diagnosed with the virus last April after being around a relative who tested positive and was asymptomatic.
Working from home, if needed, is an option for Fluke, but she said she knows it's not available to everyone.
"It’s difficult to complete your assignments without classroom instruction. It’s not impossible. We’ve done it before, but it’s emotionally, mentally crushing for our children, and stressful for the family," said Fluke. "[It's] demanding on us parents. Having to choose between completing our workload to financially support our children or teaching our children."
Working in the public health sector, Fluke said she wants other parents to know the best thing to do to beat the virus and avoid any returns to remote learning is to get vaccinated.
"We'll get through this together as quickly as we can, but it is important that please mask up and please get vaccinated," said Fluke. "I cannot stress that importance enough."