HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. — The pandemic is having a profound impact on schools and students.
It's too early to measure, but it now has a name.
It's called the "COVID slide."
Educators see students sliding backward, losing some of their most important skills.
Southern Hancock County schools went into the Thanksgiving break with four of its six schools closed by the coronavirus. Administrators plan to reopen all of them Monday morning.
"It's never been our goal to stay open no matter what. It is our goal if it's safe to be open," said Wes Anderson, spokesperson for the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County.
The school district revised its safety policy.
Five positive COVID-19 tests from students or employees, 20 percent absenteeism or a shortage of substitutes will close a school. The others will remain open.
"A lot of what we've done and a lot of our goals are surrounded with trying to get those kids into desks in the classroom in front of those teachers, because we are a brick-and-mortar school. It's what we do best." Anderson said.
Each day that students are out of classrooms and learning at home, the more educators worry about what they are not learning. By some preliminary estimates, students may lose half of their math skills and a third of their reading abilities.
Sara Rich is the founder of Just Right Reader.
"My biggest concern (is) if you don't become a reader and you always think you're behind in school, that's really hard thing to overcome," Rich said.
Perhaps too hard to overcome in a single year.
The Anderson Community School Corporation is just beginning to investigate the impact that the COVID slide is having on its students and whether schools should consider holding some students back to repeat the school year.
"No decisions have been made, as we are quite a ways away from that point," Superintendent Joe Cronk said in an email.
With the pandemic out of control, Southern Hancock schools probably can't keep every school open and students in class every week of the remaining school year.
"But we want to try to be there as much as we can," Anderson said. "And try to drive that really strong learning as much as we can as long as it is safe."
For students and the entire school staff.