mansfield isd

School Addressing Learning Loss Concerns After School Shootings

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We've talked about it all year, the fact that when tested our kids don't seem to know as much as they did pre-pandemic.      

Unfortunately, it's not the only thing that has dialed back the clock. We've seen the charts and graphs showing our kid's test scores after COVID-19. 

"To add insult to injury we had SNOVID," said Mike Morath, Education Commissioner, State of Texas. Now state leaders say that week school was closed while many of us froze also did a number on our kids.

Imagine if it's something much worse. Sarah Lerner teaches English at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida where a gunman killed 17 students in the middle of the day.

"We were in there for three hours until the swat team let us out," said Lerner.

Obviously what happened there was far worse than anything any campus has ever seen. Lerner says the disruption any shooting causes will impact the classroom.

"I can say with great certainty there was tremendous learning loss that year across the board," she said.

Administrators at Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington say they recognize the potential for learning losses after a student opened fire inside that school more than a week ago.  

"This is not an assembly line. We can't just shut down the whole thing, fix the problem and start it back up. There is a science, the art and science of teaching.," said Dr. Sean Scott, Deputy Superintendent, Mansfield ISD.

Scott says their silver lining is students here tested better than other schools after the pandemic and this shooting was more isolated but they're still very guarded.

"If they're not there if they're not mentally emotional there you can do damage by trying to push too hard," Scott said.

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