Some parents and children are continuing their call to reopen schools for in-person learning, holding a downtown rally Sunday to press their case.
"In-person education is increasingly becoming a luxury good," said Dana Hensley, who lives in the Williamsville Central School District.
The mother of four children attended the rally in support of reopening schools that went full remote because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"If you can pay for it, you can find spots so kids are in school five days," Hensley said. "It's just not equitable."
Her daughter, Sydney, 8, said she wants to be in school.
"It's harder to learn at home," Sydney said.
More than a dozen people attended the rally in front of the Rath County Office Building, the second such rally this month sponsored by Open New York Schools Now.
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"I'm tired of watching my children suffer," said Tarja Parssinen, who co-authored the Open New York Schools Now petition on Change.org.
Parssinen's two children attend Clarence schools, which were educating students in the hybrid model, but have now gone fully remote until January.
"Thousands of children and families remain in remote-learning limbo, with no confidence they will return," Parssinen said. "This is unacceptable."
Among them are 32,000 Buffalo Public Schools students, who have not been in the classroom since March.
"I am tired of being told my kids are OK. My kids are not OK," said Wendy Mistretta, the mother of two Buffalo high schoolers.
Mistretta, who is president of the District Parent Coordinating Council in Buffalo, said the district has not included parents in planning for returning to school buildings. Buffalo has announced plans to start bringing students back to classrooms in February.
"Our families have been left out of the discussion, left out of the decision," Mistretta said. "Decisions are being made about us, without us, by people who are not in and of our community."
Parssinen said the group wants school districts to rely on science and data, which show that the infection rate in schools is lower than in the community at large.
Samuel L. Radford III, a longtime advocate for students and parents, said parents should have the right to do what is in the best interest of their own children.
"Parents who want to send their children back to school, they should have that opportunity, they should have that choice," Radford said, but he added, "It ain't going to happen by itself."
"Some school boards and superintendents are contradicting public health officials and creating more confusion and fear," Parssinen said.
