Is online school mandatory?

Caleb

New Member
Jurisdiction
Washington
All schools in Washington are closed until next year. We have online homework and I'm just wondering if they are just telling me to do it or if I have too?(king county)
 
All schools in Washington are closed until next year. We have online homework and I'm just wondering if they are just telling me to do it or if I have too?(king county)
That depends....do you want to advance to the next grade/graduate?
 
All schools in Washington are closed until next year. We have online homework and I'm just wondering if they are just telling me to do it or if I have too?(king county)
What does/do your parent(s) (or guardian(s)) have to say about this?
 
All schools in Washington are closed until next year. We have online homework and I'm just wondering if they are just telling me to do it or if I have too?(king county)

While classrooms are closed, the state still expects that education will continue to the extent possible. From the state Education Department website:
"Although schools are closed from providing traditional in-person instruction, education must continue. All schools were expected to have begun providing educational services by March 30, 2020."

And even if it were not mandatory, you should continue your studies anyway or you'll be behind from where you should be when things reopen. Although it may be hard to see it now, a good education truly does make a difference in the opportunities you'll have later in life.
 
It is up to the district. Seattle for example offers online classes as enrichment, but specifically states it is neither required (nor is it even graded). I would suspect that this is fairly common. The bigger issue is not what the school requires, but what the parent requires. My daughter is making sure her kids keep up with her studies. My brother (a middle school social studies teacher) is keeping up with his students, etc...
 
It is up to the district. Seattle for example offers online classes as enrichment, but specifically states it is neither required (nor is it even graded). I would suspect that this is fairly common.

The issue for school districts is that to make it truly mandatory Washington state law requires that the online learning be available to all students -- even those who might not own a computer or have internet service at home. So they have to find a way to connect those students whose families can't afford computers and/or internet service. Big districts might be better positioned to afford to do that than small ones.
 
I disagree. Still, it's difficult to make it mandatory given that its hard to get a bunch of teachers to shift gears and suddenly develop online content (which they are by and large NOT trained to do) in any meaningful way. Actually, the size of the district isn't as big of a factor but probably how urban it is. Can't vouch for Washington but the more urban areas of Florida for example are distributing laptops, and other materials for those who do not possess them.
 
All schools in Washington are closed until next year. We have online homework and I'm just wondering if they are just telling me to do it or if I have too?(king county)

That depends. Do you want to get credit for your current classes, or do you want to repeat them?

What did your parents tell you when you asked them this question?

Just because schools are physically closed doesn't mean school is done for the year.
 
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