March 29, 2024

Virginia Schools Receive Largely Positive Marks for COVID Response

A new University of Mary Washington statewide survey revealed that Virginia’s local school districts have generally handled the COVID-19 crisis effectively. Photo by Caleb Oquendo from Pexels.

A new University of Mary Washington statewide survey revealed that Virginia’s local school districts have generally handled the COVID-19 crisis effectively. Photo by Caleb Oquendo from Pexels.

Virginia’s local school districts have generally handled the COVID-19 crisis effectively, a new University of Mary Washington statewide survey reveals.

Asked to rate COVID policies in their local school districts on an A-to-F scale, where A is excellent, C is adequate and F signifies a failure, 12 percent of respondents gave their local districts an A, 22 percent said B, and 27 percent favored a C grade. Only 11 percent offered an F grade, while 11 percent said their local district deserved a D grade for its COVID policies. The rest were undecided.

The 1,000-person poll of Virginia adults was conducted for UMW by Research America Inc. from Sept. 7 to 13.

“For weeks we have been seeing and reading in the news about parents angrily protesting local COVID policies,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and director of UMW’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies. “This survey demonstrates that those loud voices are very unrepresentative ones.” Read more.