ST. LOUIS — Two of the area's largest school districts returned Monday morning.
Only 30 miles separate Fort Zumwalt and Saint Louis Public Schools, but their back to school plans were much farther apart.
Fort Zumwalt Schools Superintendent Dr. Bernie DuBray told 5 On Your Side, "About 80% of parents said they wanted to come back face to face. We agree with them, so today we start with a five-day a week face to face."
So with that, kids in St. Charles County are back to school sort of like normal. Just a 40 minute drive into the City of St. Louis and the response was quite different.
"We had 77% who said they wanted to be virtual," explained Saint Louis Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Adams, "They wanted to stay at home. They did not want to be in the school environment. They felt safer being virtual."
When asked why the stark difference between districts, Dr. Adams, replied, "I think one of the greatest challenges is that the fact that this virus has affected the African American community at a different rate. Eighty-eight percent of our students are African American. I think also poverty plays a role in it as well."
Dr. Adams has a similar first-hand experience to compare to. He was raised in New Orleans where school was virtual for a year after Hurricane Katrina. Adams says the data shows that it took at least two years for some families to catch up on educational achievement.
Only being six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Adams hopes his students will be able to catch up both academically and socially, "All of that depends on how fast we can get back to a quote on quote regular normal, where kids are in buildings with support from educators who really care about them and do their best to support them."
Both Dr. Adams and Dr. DuBray emphasized the importance of soft skills like teamwork and conflict resolution. Dr. DuBray told 5 On Your Side that social skills were one of the main reasons his parents pushed for in-person learning. He added that some parents also wanted to go back to a normal schedule and return to work.
For Fort Zumwalt kids, the new normal includes a mask mandate and risk for transmission at school.
"If anyone thinks COVID is not going to happen, they are wrong," Dr. DuBray said during an interview on Today in St. Louis, "It's going to happen. It's how we deal with it that will be most important."