Grades go down as COVID-19 cases rise

By TAYLOR BROWN and CHRISTINE HAINES
tbrown@yourmvi.com
chaines@yourmvi.com

Online learning has been hard for some Mon Valley students — and their report cards show it.
With grades from the first full semester of hybrid and fully virtual online learning models rolling in, some parents are frustrated at drastic shifts in academic performance from their children.
Kristin Sowers called it a nightmare.
“My son is in the seventh grade at Belle Vernon Area,” Sowers said. “Before COVID, he was an A/B student. Since online was introduced, he dropped to Cs in a few classes, then Ds/Fs.”
Sowers said she has found her son using social media or sleeping while in class virtually.
When homework assignments were done incorrectly, she asked him what was going on.
“We ended that quickly and grades began to pick up for a little while,” Sowers said. “He told us he was watching TV in his room, which is very frustrating as this is his only job.
“My husband and I both have very stressful jobs. He works in the state prison and I am in the ER which is very overwhelming at the moment. We are doing the best we can, but it has come down to us going back to seventh grade ourselves to sit in on classes, to observe him and keep us up to date with assignments.”
Danielle Friday, who has two daughters in Ringgold, said her youngest child has the most trouble online.
“My 16-year-old is doing OK — her grades have dropped some but not significantly,” Friday said. “However, my 13-year-old is struggling tremendously. She has absolutely no attention span to be on a Chromebook all day. I am a single mother and work, so she is on her own.
“Recently, I checked her grades and was floored by how bad they are.”
Friday said it seems her daughter has given up.
“The busy work is overwhelming to these kids,” she said. “I emailed her teachers to ask them if they would ask her every so often to turn on her camera or answer questions so they know she is awake and involved, and they have been great with understanding the situation.”
The frustration has taken a toll on both of them.
“We are in a constant battle over her grades or we are spending every minute working on assignments,” Friday said. “Some children just cannot learn this way. I feel like my child is slowly drowning and every time I pull her up for air, another wave hits.”

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