Newtown school children are back in the classroom this week — at least the youngest learners — and none too soon for those who are exasperated, wearing the hats of teachers, parents, and employees as they continue to navigate an ever-difficult COVID remote scenario in the home.

As Senator Tony Hwang pointed out in his op-ed published in the December 25 issue of The Newtown Bee, parents and caregivers are feeling “frustration, anxiety and exhaustion.” Remote learning is pushing families over the edge and potentially creating long-term issues for younger learners.

Numerous complaints from parents and children regarding remote learning in the December 18 Hive mailbox coincided with a letter from Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue noting that K-6 students would be back in school full time, January 4. While the decision may not be satisfactory to parents who demanded an in-school return for all grades on that date — older students are currently scheduled to do so mid-January — it is a step in the right direction.

Science-based evidence shows that school children are not apt to be transmitters of the virus, nor are transmissions percolating in the classrooms; but adults in the school system subjected to exposures make it necessary to take steps to not spread the infection further. It takes more than teachers or a village to keep a school open. Without support staff, proper learning cannot take place in the schools. That is the reality.

We agree with Sen Hwang that a statewide policy on schooling guidelines could have created an environment of more equal learning. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Without a statewide standard for every school district, it has been difficult for educators and parents to meld work and teaching with confidence that the next week will not bring a change demanding a quick pivot for adults and children. Even the current planned return to classrooms may be subject to change based on latest pandemic information. Not knowing the underpinnings that allow one school to function at a different level than another when each district makes a unique plan adds to the frustration felt by those who feel their district’s plan is substandard.

But no matter how discouraged school families may feel with district decisions, the challenges have demanded a balance of realism, humanity, science, and an assessment of what is for the greater good. How best to educate Newtown’s students has been addressed with great consideration on the parts of school administrators. To suggest otherwise is detrimental to the relationship between families and schools that must be strengthened in these difficult times.

Families have shown courage in these many weeks of distance learning. We know parents’ work situations have had to accommodate the ever-changing school schedules, and the hardship that has created; it is unprecedented.

But we know this community’s resiliency, and know that when this pandemic is under control, we will once again work together and recover from a learning desert through perseverance and knowledge shared.

Patience is a virtue, and one to embrace for just a bit longer.