Kent City Schools Face Challenges with COVID in a College Town
While almost all of Portage County’s school districts were planning a somewhat smooth return to schooling, Kent City Schools stood alone facing a unique challenge in battling COVID-19: wild college kids.
Kent is not the only college town in Portage County, there is NEOMED in Rootstown, but aside from these two cities, Portage County is a generally rural and sparsely populated area. When creating strategies to go back to school, Kent School’s administrators had to weigh the risks of living in the same city Portage County’s premiere tourist attraction.
“It was the idea that we need to be prepared because it probably will hit our district harder than Stow, Hudson, Falls, where they are interacting on a daily basis, (with college kids)” said Terry Slattery, a nearly 30-year veteran at Kent Roosevelt High School, where he has also serves as head athletic trainer.
As a long-time figure both in the classroom and on the field, “Slatt” as he is known to students, says that the mood around the campus is “somber”. Recently, even the football team, made up of in-shape and young adults, was hit and had to cancel 2 weeks worth of games due to a positive case of COVID on the team.
Kent Roosevelt houses career programs for 5 other districts: Stow, Hudson, Woodridge, Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge. A coordinator for one of these multi-district programs as well, Slattery has said that cross-county legislation has made it hard to keep track of all of his students at once but also presents a better way of teaching.
Slattery says that while it may not be the easiest way for students to learn, the ability to teach yourself is crucial for further success in college. He said that one of the biggest yet most pleasant surprises was that students who previously were viewed as disengaged or rebellious, are showing that given the ability to freely learn and think on their own time, they can be very successful students.
The negative side for students though is that they are missing out on some of the best years of their lives. Rachel Mileski is a senior at Kent Roosevelt High School who plans to attend Kent State next fall, she says that this year is “absolutely nothing” like the one she imagined.
“Me and most of my girlfriends, we don’t even wear make-up anymore. I stay in the same room all day and then I’m only in the building twice a week. At this point it’s like, what even is the point?” said Mileski.
A cheerleader as well, she too lost the ability to be able to celebrate many years of hard work as her Senior Night was cancelled alongside the football team. Mileski remained positive on her outlook and says that she does not blame anyone for how her high school career ended.
“I have lived in Kent my whole life and still plan to go to Kent State. I’ve always loved it, and as much as my mom or any other older resident may want to blame it on the kids, Kent State brings a ton to the community, so I guess sometimes you’ll win and other times you’ll get this.”
One of the few people in Kent City School Districts staff that may be the most understanding of this situation may be one of their youngest staff members. Zachary Adair is an english teacher at Saint Patricks Elementary in his first semester as a teacher. A lifelong resident of Kent and recent Kent State graduate, Adair says that the situation that Kent State and Kent’s citizens are in is destined to be a stalemate.
“As a recent Kent State graduate and now working in Kent Schools, it is interesting to hear other staff members opinions of the college students. It’s kinda funny because they blame everything on them as if 3 months ago, I wasn’t that same person.”
In June, Adair actually contracted COVID himself. He recovered quickly but said that hearing his colleagues reactions is sometimes discouraging for a young educator.
“I knew that I had gotten the job in May, a month later I got COVID. Fast-forward to here and it’s like ‘do you think I tried to get COVID?’ All summer I took the needed precautions and still got sick. Does that make me a reckless college student? No, but if I wasn’t already a teacher I’m sure people would still see me as that.”
As far as the health of students go, there have been no confirmed cases for anyone below high school age and those that have been confirmed were treated successfully. Adair and Slattery alike maintain that teachers and students alike have banded together to keep everyone safe.
Adair says, “They have large trust in the faculty at the school knowing that their safety is first always and that we would do anything to keep them safe and out of harms way.”
The future is uncertain for now as COVID is ever changing but Kent City Schools has committed to finishing the first semester with concrete plans to come in the late winter months.
