Letter: Family leaving public schools due to failed e-learning during COVID

To the Editor-

I am writing to share my family’s experience with e-learning during COVID.

We have four children. At the beginning of the school year, we had a sophomore at SPASH, an eighth-grader at Ben Franklin, and two elementary kids at a private school.

Though my sophomore at SPASH is getting good grades, he has recognized that classes have been very “dumbed down” this year. This exact phrase was even spoken out of one of his teacher’s mouths.

He is worried about being behind when classes do return to normal. He does not feel like he is really learning anything new…just simply keeping busy with meaningless tasks. He is bored to death being home most days by himself. He goes to school in person Mondays and Tuesdays and he is pretty easygoing on these days. He is moody and melancholy on the other three days he is home.

My eighth-grader was having a major major struggle with e-learning. No matter how much hands-on his dad and I would offer, it was never enough. Conversations with teachers were pretty tough to come by. Unanswered emails, etc.

He was failing most core classes and scraping by in his other classes. After Thanksgiving, we pulled him from school at Ben Franklin and re-enrolled him at our private school our family has attended for years. He is able to go to school Monday through Friday, in person. He is a MUCH happier kid and his grades have taken a significant leap of improvement.

Because of our great disappointment in the public school district of Stevens Point, we have now enrolled both of our two older kids at Pacelli for the next school year, strictly for the purpose of having in-person school five days a week.

It was our intent, pre-COVID, to transfer our third-born child into the public school starting in seventh grade. However, due to our great disappointment in the lack of any real schooling, she and our youngest will remain in our private school…again for the sole purpose of being in-person five days a week.

So, long story short. Because of the lack of schooling during COVID, we are quitting all involvement in the Stevens Point Area Public School district and will proceed forward in the private schools.

Ginger Kureck
Plover

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