St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, a private academy in Suburban Maryland that Donald Trump’s son Barron attends will not reopen fully this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter sent to parents, the school said that it was still deciding whether to implement a hybrid model of virtual and in-person learning or just go entirely online. School officials say they are “continuing to pay close attention to current guidance from state and county health officials, as well as the CDC, as the health status of our region evolves.” They remain hopeful that by this fall, public health conditions will support the implementation of the hybrid model.
Donald Trump has spent weeks insisting that schools should reopen fully this fall—even going as far as to threaten to withhold federal funding to school districts that refuse to re-open.
During a coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Trump said he is “comfortable” with Barron and his school-age grand-children returning to school.
But, the majority of people across the country are wary about sending children back to the classroom. A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs shows that a majority of Americans are concerned that reopening schools this fall for in-person learning could lead to a surge in new coronavirus cases.
Nearly half of respondents, 46 percent say major adjustments such as daily disinfection of the school, mask requirements, temperature checks, rearranging of classrooms to create six-foot distances between students, are needed. 31 percent believe that schools shouldn’t reopen at all, while 8 percent of Americans think schools should reopen for in-person classes as usual.
