Just overheard a conversation from a teacher on school closings during the pandemic

[indigovalley]

50. I was teaching high school special ed during COVID

For sure online teaching was tough. Especially with students who had developmental disabilities and didn't have the computer skills to effectively learn online. Also, we had several students with no internet access at home and frankly the school administration wasn't all that concerned. It was rough. I would never want to do online teaching like that again. It was more than challenging.

But I think that for sure it saved lives. There was no vaccine, the virus was spreading rapidly, and effective masks were hard to find. It would have spread through my school like wildfire. I would risk my life to protect a student if there were a school shooter but I shouldn't have to risk my life in a pandemic when there were ways to limit exposure. It wasn't perfect but it was the best we could do.

Special ed. students were given the opportunity for school remediation in the summer to retain skills impacted by COVID. Elementary students suffered the most as any amount of teaching time lost affects their progress. The biggest impact for my high school students is that the stress of it all sent those already having mental health issues over the edge. When I retired in 2023 almost half my caseload had serious mental health challenges. Our school psychologist said COVID just "kicked them off a cliff."