Manatee school’s eclipse decision creating lots of discourse

Some are in support, others are opposed, no one seems neutral — and it seems everyone in Manatee County is talking about it.

“It” is the School District of Manatee County’s announcement on Tuesday that, out of an abundance of caution, it will keep its students inside during Monday’s solar eclipse. Health experts warn that viewing the eclipse without proper safety glasses can result in damage to the eyes.

“My kids have been talking about it all day, and they are really upset,” said Catherine Frewin, a homeschool mom from Palmetto who was with her son, Jacob, 15, at Riverwalk Skate Park Tuesday.

“I remember watching an eclipse when we were in kindergarten and that was the highlight of our childhood,” Frewin added. “It was something we really enjoyed. The fact that the kids are having to sit inside and watch it virtually, I don’t think is very exciting.”

In a student safety advisory for the solar eclipse issued Tuesday, the district announced that between 1 and 4:30 p.m. Monday students will be required to stay indoors.

“This applies to all schools and includes activities such as physical education, recess, athletic practices, band practices, after-care programs, etc.,” the advisory states.

Jacob Frewin said he was upset because watching an eclipse live “is an amazing thing” that Manatee public school students will now be denied.

“It’s an amazing experience and everyone should have the chance to be able to see an eclipse,” Jacob Frewin said. “This is the most complete eclipse in 99 years. It made me upset to hear that they are taking away such an incredible learning experience from all of these kids.”

Jacob said he is well aware that without proper eye protection public school students could suffer eye damage. The school district will not supply the necessary goggles.

“It’s pretty easy to make solar eclipse goggles,” Jacob said. “It would be really cool because they would be able to make their own and it would be more of a learning experience. They would enjoy it more. It would become more of a memory.”

Coincidently, Jacob’s father is Ryan Frewin, an astronomy teacher at State College of Florida, so he has made the goggles with his dad before.

A woman who declined to give her name, also at Riverwalk Tuesday afternoon, said her daughter is a school district student and was upset about the decision because some teachers have had their students make the eclipse goggles already.

“It was the talk of the day at our house,” the woman said.

But the mom supported the district’s decision.

“If you have one teacher and 20 children going outside, anything could happen,” she said.

School principals and staff will hold bus and car riders indoors until their buses or cars arrive.

“Viewing of the eclipse will be limited to virtual viewing in safe indoor settings,” the advisory states.

‘It’s educational’

Elva Ojeda, who was at Riverwalk on Tuesday with her grandson, Manatee school student Joel Tovar, is opposed to the district’s decision.

“In high school, we saw the eclipse,” said Ojeda, who attended Groveland High School in Central Florida. “We had to buy our own glasses, but they let us see it.”

“The whole class was out there,” Ojeda added. “The kids had to bring a certain amount of money and he bought us our glasses and we all went out there. I think something like this is educational. They should know about an eclipse.”

Superintendent Diana Greene said coming up with a plan to best handle the eclipse was very difficult because of the historic and educational aspects of it.

“However, our first and foremost priority is the safety of our students,” Greene said in the advisory. “Because we have more than 49,000 students and we cannot assure that all of them will have the proper eye equipment to safely watch the eclipse, we are coming down on the side of safety.”

The district will encourage teachers and schools to view the eclipse in a safe indoor setting on TV or by live streaming, Greene said.

“We also ask for the help of our parents, teachers and staff to reinforce the need for our students to be safe and to avoid looking at the sun during the eclipse,” Greene added. “We will spend the next week getting this information out in a variety of ways, including hard copies to students through our schools, our district website, social media, our mobile app MySDMC and through electronic phone messaging.”

The first day of classes at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota will fall during the solar eclipse, and instructors across the campus are taking advantage of the lessons it will teach, according to a press release.

Teachers from SCF Collegiate School plan to have students outside with solar glasses for viewing the sun during the eclipse. Various groups of students will be outside from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. Monday afternoon. The school also will be linked to live feeds from NASA during the event.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 11:31 AM with the headline "Manatee school’s eclipse decision creating lots of discourse."