Gov. Northam hints that school will be extended into summer for Virginia students

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gov-northam-hints-that-school-will-be-extended-into-summer-for-virginia-students/ar-BB1doCj7?ocid=msedgntp

In a live interview with The Washington Post Thursday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam hinted at a summer schooling program for Virginia students to help make up some of the learning loss that has taken place during the pandemic.

That portion of his exchange with Karen Tumulty, the Post's opinions columnist, is below.

Q: You made a career as a doctor treating children and families. What do you think has been lost in what is now, you know, almost a year of schools and education being disrupted. Are these kids ever going to be able to make this up?

A: I certainly hope so but our children definitely learn better when they're in the classroom. The social interaction is important. We've seen higher rates of depression, certainly suicide, which is so unfortunate. We just had a discussion a little while ago with my staff that we're doing everything that we can to get our children back into the classroom safely and responsibly. As you know, we've put teachers very high up in the priority of 1B to get vaccinated. One of the things that I think is very important that we'll be announcing tomorrow is that we want to extend our classroom to this summer to allow our children to catch up so that everybody will be ready in the fall. We're working with our teachers, our school boards, our superintendents. It has to be a top priority for all of us to get our children back into the classroom.
(snip)

Northam is scheduled to give a press conference at 11 a.m. Friday.
(snip)