RICHMOND, Va. — Despite the battles and bickering, school is about to start in Hampton Roads.
Dr. James Lane, Virginia's Superintendent of Public Instruction, said it will be a different year for everyone.
"Yes, we may have to see you on the screen, and yes you may have to see your friends on the screen, but we know how much you've longed to see your teachers and friends again," Lane said. He added it won't be the 'old' normal many hoped for, but that doesn't mean it won't be a productive year.
"Our teachers, every time we have asked them, have truly risen to the occasion because our teachers, in their hearts, truly care about children," he said.
Flexibility will be key, and the administration expects there will be some glitches.
"I think we're all going to have to be flexible during this time and understand that we're going to do everything we can to maximize the opportunities available to our students," Lane said.
He acknowledges learning gaps could be stark and need to be mitigated.
"What this pandemic has done, it hasn't created the inequities, it's highlighted the inequities that already exist," Lane explained.
While Lane knows students want to be in their classrooms, he insists science will guide those decisions and that communities will need to do the necessary things to get the virus under control: wearing masks, social distancing, and teaching kids personal hygiene.
"My biggest concern is that if we don't do everything we can in those spaces, we're going to see new cases and we're going to be unable to get as many kids as possible back into our buildings," Lane said.
As for the future, Lane believes we'll look back on this time and be amazed at how resilient the kids of today are; despite a major pandemic, racial unrest and a difficult mix of politics, they plowed through it all.
"Through all of that, our kids, our parents, our teachers have been resilient," Lane said. "We're going to look back and say, 'This is one of the toughest generations of kids that we've been able to work with because of what they've endured.'"