Late Night Decision Leaves DPS Parents, Students Feeling Frustrated
DENVER (CBS4) - Monday was a frustrating day for many DPS parents, as the school district decided to switch to a 100% remote learning day late Sunday night. Some expected they day to be a snow day.
"I was pretty frustrated when I got the voicemail at 9:30 p.m.," Debi Brooks said.
Brooks has kids at DPS, one in elementary and two in middle school. She says all three have been going through delays with in-person learning.
"This back and forth, or recalling decisions, it's just really having an effect on parents, kid. Kids don't know what to expect everyday," she explained.
Brooks also happens to be a licensed clinical therapist and is concerned about the late notice. Not only did it interrupt her work, but she told CBS4, this stress can take a toll on people's mental wellbeing.
"So snow closures are always tricky, you're monitoring the weather the day before, sometimes even a few days before and it's not always clear," Winna Maclaren, DPS media relations manager said.
Maclaren conveyed that DPS had a lot to consider before making the best possible decision.
"Last year we extended Spring Break by two weeks. This year we started a week late, and so we felt it was really important to minimize any additional loss of the learning time," she said.
But some on DPS' Facebook page questioned how teachers who taught in person could be expected to switch so quickly.
"We're just asking everyone to do the best they can. We know this was short notice."
With such notice, it may more likely be a half day of instruction, than full. That's unacceptable to Brooks.
"The district has got to come up with some better planning and obviously give parents and kids and teachers time to we can't just make these decisions at 9:30 at night," she added.
