The unprecedented series of steps by school systems to cancel classes and move classes online has parents scrambling for child care options.
But the closures have other parents relieved amid fears of what might come as the coronavirus spreads.
“Yes, you want to keep your children safe, but closing the schools for two weeks is going to put everybody behind,” said Vicki, who only provided her first name, after she dropped off her first-grade son at Tulip Grove Elementary in Bowie, Maryland.
The next two weeks of mornings aren’t a concern for her. But the afternoons are a different story, she said.
“I’m probably going to have to find sitters now,” she said. “We’ll do the school work (he takes home) in the morning but then when I have to go to work I’ll probably have to get my mother and my mother-in-law to watch him.”
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In Maryland, State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon announced Thursday that all public schools in the state would close for two weeks starting March 16.
In Fairfax County, the largest school district in Virginia, school officials canceled classes Friday at the last minute, citing “genuine concern” from parents. Schools were already set to be closed Monday for a previously planned staff development day to prepare for the possibility of distance learning during the virus outbreak.
Schools are also closing in the District.
Walking with Vicki was Judith Bedoya, who was more relieved about the decision to close schools. She and her daughter will both be at home playing together, she said.
“She’s asthmatic,” said Bedoya. “I think it’s good for her and good for me because … I have asthma, too.”
She added: “I think this is a good idea, the two weeks. For prevention.”
For other stay-at-home parents, the inconvenience is somewhat limited.
“It makes it harder to plan to do things,” said Taylor Prox, whose oldest daughter will be home from kindergarten the next two weeks. “So we can’t go anywhere, and we’re kind of afraid to go anywhere to be honest.”
Her family was considering a trip out of town for spring break, but that’s no longer the case.
“We’re calling it off just for safety precautions,” Prox said. “It’s a five-hour drive for us, which isn’t terrible, but just because their outbreak (in Ohio) is a little bit larger in scale than ours here, we would rather stay here.”
But for now, day care providers can expect a lot of calls today and through the weekend.
“People are looking,” said Donna Barr, who helps with her daughter’s in-home day care center. “I was in the grocery store last night and I heard people saying, ‘What are we going to do with our kids while we’re working?'”
As an in-home day care provider, Barr’s daughter is limited to how many children she can provide care for.
“It’s a struggle to find day care for these people,” Barr said.
For now, her daughter is keeping her doors open as usual, she added.
“The kids are going to keep coming until we know someone who’s had it or been exposed to it, because we can’t shut down,” said Barr. “We’ve got to make money.”
