End of the innocence and why the Park City School District made the right decision for the fall

Remember when the days were long

And rolled beneath a deep blue sky

Didn’t have a care in the world

With mommy and daddy standing by

When “happily ever after” fails

And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence

Life in Park City isn’t perfect. For many of us, though, we are still living the fairy tail we never imagined. I never dreamed of being able to live in a place like this. I never dreamed of being able to raise children in a place like this. I am lucky.

Then came the pandemic. Schools were shuttered for months. Now we are on the back-side of summer. What will schools do in the fall? In Park City, we found out schools will do what schools do. They educate. They will educate everyone.

I know people are afraid — both parents and teachers. I can’t blame them. Our current situation isn’t good, but our school district made the right decision to reopen. We must reopen and we must have a semblance of normal. We must find a way to educate children and I believe the best way is through in-person teaching.

In the spring of 2020, teachers tried hard to educate children online but the quality of education was far below what has been experienced in-person in previous years. I don’t have faith this fall would be any different. Our children would fall further and further behind. Mental illness would run rampant. Parents would be forced to choose between teaching their children and working. At-home learning, as the only option, would be a disaster for many people.

So, the Park City School District decided to push forward with a full-time, in-person model this fall. It takes courage to do that. Within hours of the announcement, the cries from the Internet were that there were no details and how horrible the plan would be.

“What happens if a person in little Johnny’s class tested positive for Covid-19?” the people asked. Would the class be quarantined? Would the school shut down? What about the poor teachers? Who is going to pay the teachers’ medical expenses and all of their family and friends when they become sick? Where are the details?!?!

The truth is that there are no details yet. We’re all making this up as we go along. There is no magic bullet. We are all doing the best we can do. My god, it’s aggravating.

If you expect everything to be perfect in Park City because an average house costs $2 million, you will be disappointed. It won’t be. Yet, the Park City School District spent the summer with multiple groups of teachers, administrators, and parents trying to figure out options for the fall.

This week they told us school will be on the same schedule as normal. That enabled my family to plan our work schedules with 6 weeks to spare. What more can I ask for in this environment?

I have been one of the harshest critics of the Park City School District since the bond offering in 2015. However, I can’t find fault with what they are doing here. There is no perfect solution. Yet, they have chosen a path forward. Will schools make it through the fall? I don’t know. But if kids get even four weeks of in-person, teacher instruction it will be better than four months of my instruction.

For a long time in Park City, many of us have assumed we are above the fray on so many levels. Like a little kid, we thought we could have it all and pay no price. That no longer appears to be true. If we want education, we will need to take calculated risks. It won’t be simply provided without cost. But we have it within us. We can rise to the occasion — or at least I hope we can.

This is the end of our innocence.

That may be a good lesson in the long run.