CPS parent shares her thoughts on Chicago Public Schools approach towards COVID-19
Sharita Howard's daughter Aniyah Yancey and son Baveion Becton.
Sharita Howard is one of many parents with children who attend a Chicago Public School (CPS). Since the coronavirus outbreak forced people to shelter-in-place, she had to transition from her kids being taught in a classroom to learning remotely from home.
Howard, a single mother living in the Englewood community, has a daughter, Aniyah Yancey, 14, who will be graduating from the 8th grade this year and a son Baveion Becton, 9, in the fourth grade. Both attend Robert Fulton Elementary, a CPS school in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Howard believes that the way CPS went about this transition could have been different.
"I would have addressed it a little bit earlier because honestly, in my opinion, with the virus, it's been around way before the schools got closed... I would have taken a little extra precaution and made sure that the students had more go on," Howard said.
According to the Center and Disease Control and Prevention, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was Feb. 26 of this year. CPS wrote a community update on March 16 on its homepage informing parents and students about schools being closed for deep cleaning on March 17.
This transition in education has changed Howard's routine, and she is aware of how this experience can affect her kids.
”I was so used to getting up on my off days, helping my kids get ready for school to get them out the door," she said. "Now they can lounge around with pajamas, and they have to do work from a laptop. My kids can't communicate with their classmates like they want to."
CPS provided Howard's daughter and son with Dell Chromebooks for them to participate in lectures that are being held through Google Classroom, but other than that, Howard did not receive any additional support from CPS.
“I feel support from my kid's teachers, but from CPS, they could have done a little bit more, and they still can because kids are still in school," she said.
Howard shared that it's become harder for her kids to focus when they are not in the environment where they can receive the help they need or be in a space where they can concentrate on lessons being taught to them.
"Kids can easily get distracted at home and school, but it's way easier to get distracted at home," she said.
Whenever Howard is not working her regular shift at McDonalds, which usually starts at 6 a.m and does not end until 2 p.m, she is at home monitoring her son as he is learning. She said,"I have my son sit in my room, and I listen to his teacher. If he needs any assistance, I try my best to help out the best way that I can."
Her experience so far with remote learning has caused her to take on multiple roles. "I have to be a mom, a teacher, a cook, a janitor, doctor, a comforter, and a therapist," Howard expresses very strongly. "Even though I'm only getting paid to go to work, my job as a mom, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."
While balancing so much, she has to make sure her kids are doing okay.
"I've been trying to help my daughter cope with the fact that she's not going to be able to experience all of the activity and everything for 8th grade," she said.
The 8th-grade luncheon and ribbon pinning would have been the same day as them going to the Grand Lux Cafe.The parents could have attended, but they would have to pay the same fee as the students.
Howard says, "A virtual graduation doesn't stand up to the parents and grandparents and relatives cheering her on or when her name is being called when she gets her diploma."
"Now my daughter, she's not going to have the experience to walk across the stage, and have her diploma handed to her," Howard said.