Stifled by online learning during COVID-19, some Manatee parents want their kids held back

Ten-year-old Peyton Lee sat in silence on Wednesday, gazing past the classmates on her computer screen.

Schools throughout Florida shut their doors and transitioned to online learning in March, hoping to curb the spread of COVID-19, and she was excited about the virtual classroom. But her enthusiasm waned after a few weeks, when the program failed to meet her special needs.

Peyton, a third-grader who has Down syndrome, would usually attend weekly speech and physical therapy sessions. The face-to-face support was replaced by paper handouts and YouTube videos, while the lessons were more like busy work, said her mother, Kelly Lee.

“At this point, the amount she’s learning is basically zero because it doesn’t capture her attention,” she said “It doesn’t challenge her at all, but we’re still trying. We haven’t given up.”

Lee, who works as a preschool teacher, said online learning stunted her daughter’s growth, and that more harm would come from advancing her grade level too soon. She was among several local parents who tried and failed to have their children held back, or “retained,” after Gov. Ron DeSantis raised the possibility in a news conference.

She felt anxious about the future, as her daughter became “essentially nonverbal” and averse to computers, but the mother experienced a moment of hope last month. Lee watched her television with great interest as DeSantis held a press conference on COVID-19.

A moment of hope

Testing requirements and school grades were canceled for the 2019-2020 school year, and while students would be advanced to the next grade, it was ultimately the parents’ decision, DeSantis said on March 17.

“Parents may, at their discretion, decide to keep their child in the same grade for the 20-21 school year,” he said at the time.

“When he said that, I breathed a sigh of relief,” Lee said.

Hope quickly turned into confusion and frustration, when Lee was told to submit a written request for “retention.” It was denied in early May, and Principal Mario Mendoza, the leader of Bashaw Elementary School, later followed up with a letter.

“While this outcome was not what you hoped it would be, please know that the decisions on promotion, good cause and retention are considered with care and concern for all students,” he wrote.

Lee soon learned that Manatee County schools had a committee to review such requests. The process, according to district officials, was in line with guidance from the Florida Department of Education.

In a recent memo on COVID-19 and school closures, the education department said parents have the ability to “request retention of their child in the current grade,” and to reach a decision “in consultation” with teachers and school leaders.

The guidance seemed to contradict DeSantis, Lee said. And while her daughter’s teacher was supportive, Lee questioned whether the teacher was given a voice in the process.

Taryn Fenske, director of communications for the state education department, said that parents do have a right to request student retention and take part in the decision-making process.

“In no way does that contradict what the governor said,” she continued. “Parents should always be involved in discussions regarding their students’ education.”

In the School District of Manatee County, requests usually start with a school principal, said Genelle Zoratti Yost, the deputy superintendent of instructional services.

Joined by the relevant parties, such as guidance counselor or teachers, the principal later attends a committee meeting. Yost said the elementary director coordinates meetings, which usually include the executive directors of elementary and secondary education, along with the executive director of curriculum.

“If there are some parents who have reached out and been concerned, I am taking a lot of time to review historical information,” Yost said. “These are many times students with special needs of some sort.”

It was possible that a committee decision be reversed on an individual base, she continued.

“That could happen,” she said. “We want to be open minded and look at the benefits of a promotion versus a retention.”

In response, Lee said she was never informed about the committee members, who were making a vital decision about her daughter, nor was she aware of the decision-making process.

She felt the education department and the governor issued conflicting messages, but neither were important in her eyes. She said it was more important to honor parents’ wishes and consider the unusual circumstances presented by COVID-19.

“My daughter is struggling and I’m just asking for help,” Lee said, fighting back tears. “I don’t see how holding her back is going to cause damage for anybody, and how that would be bad for her.”

The school board weighs in

She was not alone. At the school board meeting on May 12, Vice Chair Charlie Kennedy requested a future discussion on student retention. Fearing students would drop out or graduate late, the district commonly denied the requests in past years, he said.

“Student retention takes on a totally different meaning and should take on a different process based on where we are now,” he said at the meeting.

In a follow-up interview on Thursday, Kennedy said he received three communications about families who were struggling to have their children retained. He felt the process should be simplified for one year, allowing parents to make the decision.

“If a parent who has been home with their kid for the past three months of school is recognizing their kid struggling or not learning or regressing, and the parent would like that child to repeat, it should be the parent’s choice,” he said.

Gina Messenger, the board chair and a former teacher, responded at the May 12 meeting. She said it was common for school districts to make retention choices with a committee.

Messenger shared similar comments in a follow-up interview on Thursday. She said Manatee used a common approach that aligned with guidance from the state education department.

“It’s about whatever is best for the kid, and we have to know there are lots of people that have different points of view on that, all with different expertise,” she said. “We have to come together and find the best way.”

Board member Scott Hopes echoed her comments at the board meeting, and he expanded on the topic in a follow-up interview.

“There’s a whole team, and they have a pretty good handle on where the child is developmentally and academically,” he said. “In some cases, more so than parents, because parents don’t see their student in the academic environment that often.”

“We owe it to the child to not hold them back,” he continued.

At the meeting in early May, board members decided they would speak with district staff, learn more about the topic and schedule a public conversation if needed. Board members James Golden and Dave Miner could not be reached for comment.

Kennedy, who first raised the topic of student retention, was not feeling hopeful about a second conversation, nor was Lee. If there was a committee that knew her daughter and weighed the important decision, she was largely kept out of the process.

“I think there was a meeting held, apparently,” she said. “I don’t know how or when. I don’t know who was at this meeting. I don’t know.”

‘I am blown away’

The discussion was short at Manatee’s recent board meeting, but it was a relevant issue at the Family Network on Disabilities, a nonprofit that serves Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Mary Smith, the executive director, said she received at least eight communications about families who were struggling to have their children retained. All of them were students with physical, intellectual or learning disabilities.

“They were already so far behind, before COVID-19, and they needed to be retained,” she said.

Smith said there was an outdated belief that retention was universally bad. And retention can be harmful if you simply hold back students and fail to support them with more resources, she continued

Citing a personal experience with her own daughter, Smith said retention could benefit students when done correctly, and that families were learning to push back. One parent emailed a host of people in the school district, presented new information and ultimately had the student retained.

“They made her chase the rabbit so much, but she was not about to give up,” Smith said.

Lee, who became hopeful during the governor’s press conference, was growing tired. She said there was little direction and plenty of confusion in the local retention process.

The mother learned about her denied request in an email from the school principal, a brief message that said her daughter “is being promoted to 4th grade.” Lee then requested more details and received a follow-up letter.

Her daughter was already retained once in second grade, and she was promised the same teacher next year. The letter also said Peyton would have “additional years for life skills training at the secondary level.”

“I am blown away by that one,” the mother said. “She’s having a problem now, so why let it carry on to middle and high school?”

This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 10:21 AM.