When the novel coronavirus forced the shuttering of school buildings nationwide, school leaders across Oklahoma and other states hurriedly shifted to new, daunting modes of instruction. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored longstanding problems such as the digital divide, but it also posed a multitude of other challenges ranging from special education accommodations to the delivery of meals for hungry children.

These past 12 months have been deeply trying on many fronts, not the least of which is a public education system balancing the need for strong instruction and student engagement with the equally important need for safety for everyone at school. With that predicament in mind, the Oklahoma State Department of Education last June unveiled Return to Learn: A Framework for Reopening Schools. Developed in collaboration with health and education experts, it provided comprehensive guidance for schools to open up safely and offer in-person instruction in the summer and fall.

While most districts opened doors for in-person learning, others turned to virtual learning. A host of factors influenced district decisions, including building capacity, staff availability and student needs. Some schools embraced A/B rotation schedules — part in person, part virtual — to accommodate social distancing. Without consistency between schools, however, mask policies and safety protocols became flash points of division within communities. I have no doubt that educators made the very best choices they could under agonizing circumstances.

The mantra of local control is vitally important in public education, and one that I support. But it also has unintended consequences, particularly in an emotionally charged environment borne from a pandemic fraught with peril and no clear-cut good choices. In too many communities, this patchwork approach bred anxiety and frustration, fueling unfortunate divisions between parents and teachers and between school leaders and health care experts.

The pandemic is not quite behind us, but it appears the worst of it might be. Case numbers have dropped significantly, teachers are getting vaccinated, and our collective understanding of COVID has increased greatly. Educators are as eager as parents and students for a full-scale return to normalcy. But as welcome as that prospect is, what awaits us post-pandemic is arguably the biggest crisis in recent memory for American K-12 education. Learning loss, trauma, depression: Our schools will not lack for serious challenges. Children will need the combined herculean efforts of educators, families and communities — and they will need it when educators, families and communities are at their most exhausted and ready to move on.

If we are going to help our students recover and rebound, we must rise above the bitterness that has dogged much of the past 12 months.

Oklahomans are celebrated for our resiliency. We are at our best when we lock arms (figuratively, given social distancing) and join forces to overcome adversity. From the Dust Bowl to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing to the deadly tornadoes of May 1999 and May 2013, the Oklahoma Standard has always depended on our ability to come together.

Now is the time for us come together again. Our kids need us more than ever. As we look to the sizable task ahead, the first decision we all must make is to move past divisiveness. If our students are going to prevail, and they must, we need to be ready to do so, and together.

Joy Hofmeister is state superintendent of public instruction.

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