Editor:

The Edmonds School District was not prepared for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) because they underestimated the disease. They didn’t designate a way for students to continue to their education if the disease got worse, and it did. When more than one case was diagnosed in Washington and the state eventually became the most infected state in the U.S, the district began to throw around the idea of online learning, “eLearning.” The idea barely went anywhere, leaving all students of the Edmonds School District without decent education for more than six weeks. Other districts across the country, including neighboring districts Northshore and Lake Washington, have implemented an online learning program that has had students learning for the last one or two weeks. Edmonds is still left without education.

There may be problems involved with eLearning ranging from cheating, learning disabilities, and distracted students watching Netflix while their online “class” is in session. If the district really decides to put this program into place and students’ previously hard-earned grades are altered based on their performance online, many different things could happen.

Students that cheat and use their phones for answers could get undeserved good grades and unmotivated, distractible students that have mediocre grades could fall further behind academically, making them even less likely to get into college or succeed in life. Also, less fortunate people with little or no access to the internet could fall severely behind with schoolwork and grades if all of school is internet-dependent.

These are some of the most prominent problems with education in the Edmonds School District right now due to the coronavirus outbreak. If the district does not act more quickly, all students will be in a great deal of academic trouble.

Andrew Young
Lynnwood