It’s ‘first’ day for more than 2,000 returning Gary students
For the kindergarten students, it marked their first day in school, away from the home learning environment they’ve been in since August.
Older Gary students haven’t set foot in school since March, when Gov. Eric J. Holcomb shut the state down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Williams Elementary, on the city’s east side, Principal Linda Gholston and Kim Bradley, chief academic officer for the Gary Community School Corp., greeted students along with teachers and a nurse who took temperatures.
Parent Maria Robinson dropped off three children, Oryan, 11, Abryanna, 10 and Aaniyhla, 6. She hoped to see their classrooms, but parents weren’t allowed inside to keep numbers down in the school.
“They were happy to get up this morning,” Robinson said. “It’s actually kind of a relief.”
Robinson said she’s been overseeing their online lessons since last year.
“The children and adults are excited and we’re glad to get kids back in the building,” Bradley said.
She said students received individual breakfasts in their classrooms where plastic shields separated their desks.
Crossing guard Alva Mitchell came inside after her duties ended and said it felt great to be back. She’s been on the job for about 15 years, but said she didn’t assist too many students Monday.
Art teacher Geoffrey Black said while it’s unlike any other year, teachers were trying to make it as normal as possible for students. Black greeted students at the door and walked them to their classroom.
“They seem kind of happy and glad to be back. They’re actually seeing their teachers for the first time,” he said.
About 46% of the district’s 4,400 students are returning. The remainder is still learning at home along with their in-school classmates. The West Side Leadership Academy is open for about 120 seniors who are struggling to earn graduation credits.
Gary is among the last Northwest Indiana districts to return to in-school classes, along with students in Hammond and East Chicago, which still haven’t reopened.
At the School City of Hammond, the region’s largest district, students are tentatively slated to continue e-learning until April 6.
The East Chicago school board rejected an administration recommendation to reopen schools on Feb. 16. No date has been announced yet.
Urban school administrators weighed school reopening with heightened concern because of the increased impact of COVID-19 on minority communities.
In Gary’s case, the elements and a spike in coronavirus cases conspired to delay three openings.
Gary manager Paige McNulty originally announced a Jan. 19 start date, but that was scrapped in the wake of increased COVID-19 infections after the holidays.
A Feb. 16 reopening was called off after heavy snows pelted Northwest Indiana. Officials hoped to reopen Feb. 18, but Gary roadways were deemed too snow-covered for school buses.
McNulty worked with the Gary Teachers Union to safeguard staff members and students, she said.
Gary Teachers Union President GlenEva Dunham, who’s also the Indiana Federation of Teachers president, was jittery about the Monday opening amid the backdrop of the U.S. marking 500,000 COVID-19 deaths.
“We are one of the last in the state. I just felt like it was time for us to try. ... Of course, my members are very, very nervous,” Dunham said.
Dunham said returning teachers should be vaccinated like they are in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.
“We all need to be very upset with Gov. Holcomb … We felt we should be there with police and firefighters,” she said of the vaccination protocol list. “I just don’t understand why teachers are at the bottom of the chain for Gov. Holcomb.”
Holcomb has prioritized the elderly and health care workers for vaccinations along with first responders. No timetable for teachers has been announced yet. State officials cited a shortage of vaccines for not expanding the list.
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