Some U.S. Schools Ending Academic Year Early After Remote Learning Difficulties
DISMISSED
Public school districts around the country are canceling classes early after encountering difficulties with learning at a distance, The Wall Street Journal reports. Washington, D.C.’s public school year will end May 29, three weeks earlier than planned. Bibb County in Georgia will stop school for its 21,500 students this coming Friday, also three weeks prior to the school year’s original end date. Schools in Omaha, Nebraska, will shutter a week early to train teachers in remote learning. The coronavirus has caused the mass cancellation of in-person classes and forced the country’s 50 million children to turn their living rooms into classrooms with varying success. Disparities in internet access have been a factor in the early closures: Administrators for the DeKalb County School District said in a statement to the Journal about closing a week early that they “recognized the digital divide, availability of internet service, and inequities that exist during remote learning.”