Should schools reopen in fall?

At this time last year, parents and students were picking up fresh packs of pencils and notebooks, starting up fall sports practices and gearing up for another first day of school in August. But in 2020, the traditional back-to-school period has become a ticking clock on major decisions facing school boards, teachers and parents about how and when to bring students back to the classroom amid the coronavirus pandemic. The already contentious debate intensified last week when Gov. Henry McMaster gave a press conference announcing that he wanted to see all public schools in the state offer in-person classes five days a week this fall. Criticism was swift. South Carolina's largest school district, Greenville County Schools, pushed back almost immediately, and the state's top education official, Molly Spearman, chose not to attend the press conference and instead put out a statement objecting to McMaster's request. Most agree that students learn better in a classroom than they can online. What isn't agreed upon is when it's safe to make that transition. We turned to education reporter Jenna Schiferl and projects reporter Avery Wilks for some insight on what parents, politicians, schools officials and educators are thinking. We discussed how school districts are responding to the governor's call to reopen, what classrooms might look like this fall and why so many parents in South Carolina are feeling frustrated.