BUFFALO, N.Y. — Over 25,000 Western New Yorkers, across 17 local school districts, participated in a survey regarding the reopening of schools in the fall. Monday, those results were released by Erie 1 BOCES.
Parents and teachers were asked how they'd feel sending kids back to in-person instruction in the fall, and the results show that most agree with that option.
Further, the results show that 68 percent of those surveyed say they agreed, or strongly agreed, that school should resume as normal in September with new procedures put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. On the other hand, 19.6 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the idea of returning to school as normal.
However, the results were torn about whether or not school should resume in September with face-coverings being worn by staff and students, and social distancing when possible. The results show that 41.1 percent agreed or strongly agreed, while 38.7 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with wearing masks.
Additionally, 21.6 percent agreed or strongly agreed that a hybrid learning approach — where half of the students are in school and the other half are remotely learning — should be used in September. Meanwhile, 55 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with this hybrid approach.
A small percentage of people wanted to wait for school to resume until there was a vaccine — 16.4 percent. A majority — 70.7 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed on waiting until a vaccine was available.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday, and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday reiterated that New York State is still deciding if schools will return for in-person instruction in the fall.