This week we modified our school schedule to allow students two full days per week of in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year. Freshmen and Sophomores responded very favorably to the expansion with about 60% and 62% respectively opting to come in; the response from Juniors (34%) and Seniors (16%) was a bit more disappointing. Someone asked, “Can’t you simply demand everybody come back for in-person classes and not give a full-remote option?” The question reminded me of a scene from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novella, The Little Prince wherein the title character of the famously illustrated book visits various asteroids and planets, including Earth, and whose interactions and observations become a philosophical commentary on human nature and the meaning of life. In Chapter 10, the prince encounters a king:
For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable…
When speaking about his authority over his subjects he counsels:
“One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform,” the king went on. “Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable.”
The little prince then asks the king a special favor – will he order the sun to set?
“You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favorable.”
“When will that be?” inquired the little prince.
“Hum! Hum!” replied the king; and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac. “Hum! Hum! That will be about–about–that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed!”
Demanding that all students come back to school in-person at the time of our own choosing would not be a “reasonable” command.
Our Principal, Mike Odiotti is legendary for using data to drive his decision-making. His first step to create possible class schedules for the remainder of the year was to survey our student body. The results are eye-opening: 47% of Seniors, 42% of Juniors, 24% of Sophomores, and 25% of Freshmen are needed at home to attend to younger siblings while parents are working or they are working themselves to help their families. How can CRSM command students to return to school when so many play vital roles helping their families make ends meet?
Realistically, we cannot expect more high school students to return to classes until they are relieved of babysitting duties. High schools need grade schools to reopen first. Over 75% of CRSM students attended public grade schools. It stands to reason that their younger siblings attend those schools. CRSM needs public grade schools to reopen before we can expect or demand that all our students to return to us.
Talking with business partners in the Corporate Work Study Program, the timing of their various return-to-work strategies depends on schools reopening. A huge proportion of employees are parents of school-age children. Is it “reasonable” to bring employees back to the workplace before children are back in school? The press, our elected officials, and even our educators are ignoring a simple formula: grade schools need to open full-time before high schools can open full-time before businesses can reopen full-time. Let’s identify the bottleneck and take steps to open the flow. The dominoes must fall in sequential order.
At CRSM, we consulted our almanac and we will not be requiring students to return to in-person classes until… Hum! Hum! Their families can afford it and it MAKES SENSE.
Perhaps, high school students and families from more well-resourced communities can find ways to accommodate full-time, in-person instruction while grade schools and businesses are still remote, but not so for communities like Waukegan and North Chicago that struggle. This pandemic is like being in the middle of the ocean during a huge storm: some of us are in enclosed, seaworthy vessels and managing fairly well; others of us are adrift in rickety dinghies, exposed to the elements and in real danger – facing life-and-death situations. Unfortunately, a family’s economic status is overwhelmingly the primary factor determining which boat it occupies. Many CRSM families are multi-generational, with higher instances of co-morbidities, and with parents or other family members designated as essential workers. They are fighting like mad to stay afloat and they need every family member on deck, including their CRSM students.
If we are truly here to accompany our students on their journey, to help them develop their God-given talents, and to create access and opportunities for them to shape their own futures, then we must listen to them. Anything else is myopic and ineffective. It recalls another quote from The Little Prince, “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
Our students are telling us something. The pandemic rages on. Even as we are making progress, we must be patient. The only way we can come out of this pandemic successfully is by coming out of it together – ours must be a coordinated communal effort and it must now start focusing on our children. After all, let’s not forget… they are our future!
Thank you for supporting our students and mission. The Easter season is a time for hope and you supply CRSM with just that… HOPE!