A national debate sparked in early July about whether states should reopen schools when President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos threatened to cut funding for schools that do not reopen. This threat was quickly challenged as a violation of states’ rights to determine education policy. Under pressure to make a local decision, Mayor Muriel Bowser and her education appointees—including Deputy Mayor Paul Kihn, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Lewis Ferebee, and Superintendent Hanseul Kang—began contemplating a hybrid instruction model, where students would alternate days of in-person schooling and virtual learning.
This announcement sparked a public backlash against a potential hybrid model, with the Washington Teacher’s Union leading the charge under the hashtag #OnlyWhenItsSafe—demanding that health and safety concerns be addressed prior to requiring educators return to school buildings. After a review of what it would take to ensure the health and safety of both educators and youth—including facility upgrades (e.g., HVAC and water systems) and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements—city leaders made a determination to not reopen DC schools this fall.
At the same time, wealthier families in the region began self-organizing into what is now known as “pandemic pods” or “education pods” to address academic regression and the limitations of virtual learning. In pandemic pods, groups of families with children within a similar age range hire educators to teach their network of children. The typical cost for a pod averages $45 an hour per child, which creates an access issue and has sparked local debates between education advocates about equity.
To learn more about how Columbia Heights families are preparing for the upcoming school year and if the challenges they face mirror city-wide concerns, I caught up with Emily Gasoi, Ward 1 State Board of Education (SBOE) representative.
Gasoi began her career as a classroom teacher in 1995 and is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in the Program for Education, Inquiry and Justice. She is also the co-founder of a consulting practice called Artful Education, which works with schools and education organizations to strengthen practices related to creative teaching and learning. She is also a Ward 1 resident, living in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood with her husband and daughter, who is a student at Yu Ying Public Charter School, a Chinese immersion school.
In addition to Columbia Heights, Ward 1 includes Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, U Street, Pleasant Plains, Park View, Shaw, LeDroit Park, Meridian Hill, Lanier Heights, Kalorama and more. As a SBOE representative, Gasoi’s role is to make herself accessible to her constituents and connect them to access points to solve education related issues. Like all SBOE representatives, Gasoi’s influence on DC education policy is limited to advising the State Superintendent on education matters.
Gasoi noted that the general feedback from her constituents, both educators and parents, has been frustration, particularly towards DCPS due to difficulty obtaining information on the plan for the school year. Working parents are concerned with the social and emotional health of their children, and seeking childcare solutions during the global pandemic has created undue stress–especially on mothers who are disproportionately making educational sacrifices for their children.
Many families have reached out to Gasoi via email seeking advice on how to start a pod, while expressing concerns about equity. She would like to see the city develop a support system to help safely facilitate pods and other educational enrichment opportunities, especially for young children who are least likely to benefit from online learning. She is concerned about equity as well as safety issues that arise from having groups of children constantly interacting with each other during a global pandemic.
“I’m surprised that we’re one week away from school opening and it is shocking that there isn’t any talk of safety when it comes to the pods,” Gasoi says. “How are we going to make sure that safety is a priority and who would families consult on such issues?”
In the neighborhood adjacent to Columbia Heights, Gasoi recently participated in a parent-organized town hall where she addressed an audience of over 60 families with young children. Some families have suggested that DCPS should offer children in early grades a “gap year” to address the fact that young children will miss out on the developmental preparation that early childhood classrooms provide. Gasoi expressed doubt about the system’s capacity to offer such alternatives for young learners.
Gasoi views outdoor education as a possible alternative. She is actively part of the DC Coalition for Equitable Outdoor Education, which is an emerging coalition for outdoor learning made up of local and national advocacy organizations, community groups, parents, entrepreneurs, and educators. The coalition has an upcoming meeting that will be focused on coming up with a plan to keep the parks safe for outdoor learning. Such a plan would include frequent testing of DPR staff and other adults potentially interacting with children in public spaces.
Gasoi’s main advice to families engaging in pod activities is to get tested frequently, possibly even on a weekly basis. She noted that her and her family utilize the free COVID-19 testing sites in the Ward. The Columbia Heights free testing site is at the Fire Station on the corner of 14th Street and Newton, and is open Mondays through Wednesdays between 4-8pm.
