Milton Schools Survey: 60 Percent Favor In-Classroom Learning

MILTON, MA — More than 60 percent of those who responded to a Milton Public Schools survey said that they would prefer their students return to in-classroom learning this fall as long as "all state health, safety and sanitation guidelines could be met."

The same survey revealed parents said students were twice as likely to be "not engaged at all" in distance learning this past spring than be "extremely engaged."

Milton Public Schools released the results of the survey that had 2,360 responses and was meant to gauge how the town fared in distance learning this spring amid the coronavirus crisis and viewed a return to in-classroom learning this fall.

Milton Public Schools said the survey results represented every grade level and that they approximated the demographics in the town. The response rate was 82 percent of student families.

The results showed 60.5 of responses said they prefer in-classroom learning if safety precautions can be met. They said 29.8 percent prefer a hybrid model and 9.7 percent would prefer fully remote education to start the school year.

Milton Public Schools said that if in-classroom learnig resumes, 40 percent of students would be driven to school, 27.5 percent would take the bus and 24 percent would walk or bike.

Only 8.1 percent of responses said their students were "extremely engaged" in distance learning during the coronavirus crisis this spring, while 32.5 percent were "engaged," 42.2 percent were slightly engaged and 17.2 percent were "not at all engaged."

Full survey results can be found here.

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