I don’t think I’ve heard the term “radical hope” before – in this context, I suspect it means hope that is complete, far-reaching, and passionate. That kind of hope is what’s needed during this pandemic – for communities and schools, and companies too, to find just the right balance between the competing demands of all of their stakeholders. At the end of the day, it comes down to reasonable accommodation, emphasis on “reasonable”: everyone involved in these decisions has to be reasonable because there are no guidelines for this kind of unique and enormous challenge. Whatever side of the argument you’re on, take a moment to step back from the emotional part of it and put yourself in everyone else’s shoes. All of those perspectives are important and the key to figuring out what’s best is collaboration. That’s the only way we’re going to figure out these vexing issues; we’ll make mistakes along the way, but if everyone’s patient and reasonable, we’ll ultimately find the appropriate solutions that everyone is “radically” hoping for and which will help us to be better prepared in case something like this happens again. Preparation for tomorrow starts today.
Sharon Contreras (born 1970): Superintendent of Schools, Guilford County, N.C.
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