My son Julian is currently in his last year of preschool. He has been going in person all year, and though it is unlike any other preschool year, it has been wonderful. He is learning and playing and making friends and just generally having a grand old time.

But what about kindergarten?

He is already enrolled for kindergarten at his big sister’s public school. At the beginning of the pandemic, I thought, At least this will all be over by the time Julian starts kindergarten.

A few months passed. Pippa started distance learning in the fall. The district was talking about starting hybrid in October. And I thought, At least this will be over by the time Julian starts kindergarten.

October came and went. Distance learning plodded on. Then January arrived and still, we did not have a start date. I thought, At least hybrid will have started by the time Julian starts kindergarten!

Then the District released some information about the updated model for hybrid school in Pasadena. We were originally told last summer that hybrid would look like this: everyone on their computers for an hour on Monday; then your child goes to school with their cohort on either Tuesday/Wednesday or Thursday/Friday. They would have the other days off, presumably to do some schoolwork at home.

But the District has adjusted the hybrid plans. Apparently now the kids will go in person two days and do distance learning from home on their Chromebooks the other days. It sounds like the children will be mostly working on their computers on the days they actually go to school.

All this is hypothetical. The Pasadena Board of Education met yesterday. And though they had the time to watch presentations about “creative wellbeing” and women’s history month, they did not take the time to vote on the plan to reopen schools. They listened to the presentation from the District. And then, they didn’t vote and left the kids in limbo. Again.

My second grader is doing fine, no thanks to the Pasadena Board of Education. She is doing well thanks to her pod and the afternoon classes she is taking at some local botanical gardens. If hybrid ever freaking starts in Pasadena, we will give it a try. I suspect she will adapt and even thrive.

But Julian? My five year old? Who starts kindergarten in August?

Yeah, he can’t do distance learning for kindergarten. I know my son, and I know he will wilt and fade and suffer. Kindergarten is about playing and socializing. That does not happen on a computer. Sure, the kinders practice writing letters and do some math, but I can do that with Julian at home.

I ordered a couple of kindergarten workbooks this morning as a sort of insurance policy. If the distance learning shit show continues, it looks like I’ll become intimately familiar with home schooling. I can find Julian some afternoon classes and organize play groups. Other families will be home schooling as well.

I don’t know what kindergarten is going to look like for my son, but I know we will figure it out. It will be an adventure.