Majority of Americans Concerned About Their Children Falling Behind in School Due to COVID-19: Poll

The majority of parents are experiencing anxiety for a number of reasons ahead of schools reopening in the fall, a poll shows.

According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Friday, parents have an array of concerns including their children returning to in-person classes with the looming threat of the coronavirus and how being physically out of school will impact their academic progress.

A total of 59% of Americans are concerned about their children academically while 44% of parents of school-aged children insist they are willing to allow their children to attend school, in-person. The poll also shows 55% of Americans oppose the idea of reopening public schools in the fall.

Roughly “four out of 10” are not concerned about the possibility of their children’s academic gains being impacted as a result of coronavirus.

The poll, developed using the Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel, was conducted as part of Ipsos’ partnership with the ABC News network.

Despite dozens of states facing surges in coronavirus cases amid growing concerns about returning to school, President Donald Trump is still demanding schools reopen.

Around the country, schools are scrambling to implement safe ways to reopen during the pandemic while parents are focused on making the right decisions for their children and households.

The latest poll results come amid two announcements that have raised more questions and concerns about the safety of returning to school.

On Thursday, Trump confirmed the cancellation of the portion of the Republican National Convention that was scheduled to be in Jacksonville, Florida, citing COVID-19 concerns, as previously reported on IJR.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School — where the president’s son Barron Trump attends school — also confirmed it would not fully reopen in August due to the coronavirus pandemic. The school will likely offer “hybrid and distance learning plans,” according to a letter from the school obtained by The New York Times.

Both announcements, citing safety concerns due to coronavirus, have been made as Trump has called for schools across the country to fully reopen.

Despite his claim that it is safe to do so, there is no clear data to support his stance. With more than 4.1 million known cases, the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States as the death toll is more than 147,000 and there are over 1.9 million recoveries, as of Friday morning.