As a parent of five children, the prospect of a full year of remote learning scares me more than any virus ever could. I love my children more than anything, but as I’m sure almost all of the parents reading this can attest to, when you aren’t prepared to homeschool your children, it is a very difficult task. Luckily, my children are now grown and my wife and I do not need to worry about making alternate arrangements for our work schedules, but I can imagine how hard that must be.

While some school districts are opening the year remotely or taking a hybrid approach with some students in class and others learning remotely, there are also many school districts that are going to be fully open to start this year. This of course gives parents heartburn of another type as we worry about the health of our children. And then of course there is always the possibility in the back of our minds that an outbreak will foil even our best made plans.

For parents of atypical students, students with IEPs (Individual Education Plans), or students with less than stable family lives, the job is even harder yet. I know firsthand. I don’t speak about it much, but my childhood and education was far from typical. My father did the best he could raising five children as a single parent. I spent a few years living at the Saint Peter’s orphanage on Kelly street in Manchester and I wasn’t a particularly good student as a child. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I was diagnosed with dyslexia. A disruption of normal school days like we have seen this year would have been devastating to my education.

Parents of children that have learning disabilities like mine, or parents of children with any others such as autism need to know that we have their backs now more than ever. These students are most at risk of falling behind and losing all of the hard-earned progress they made over their educational careers.

I have long advocated that we need to rethink our one-size-fits-all education model and the COVID crisis has certainly spotlighted this need over the past few months. Some students simply do not learn the same way as others. This crisis has amplified that need. We’ve seen a great division between the richer and poorer families and their abilities to cope with remote learning. Students without the means to afford computers or adequate internet connections have had much greater trouble keeping up with their classmates. This is a problem that could have been avoided had they been afforded the ability to seek educational opportunities outside of the traditional public classroom. I believe that the money we dedicate to education should follow the student, not the other way around. Property taxes in New Hampshire are high and we owe it to the taxpayers to make sure that the money is spent as efficiently and effectively as possible.

One other issue that is often overlooked in our schools and our discussions about school safety is bullying. It happened to me. Atypical students are often targeted worse than typical students. This is only amplified with technology, social media and disruptions to normal school days. We need to ensure that more is being done and we are holding accountable any school officials that know of bullying and do not act to prevent it.

I’m lucky. I was able to overcome my disadvantages, start my own business and dedicate my life to serving my community. I want to make sure that every other child in New Hampshire is given the same opportunity. With a little innovative thinking, and lot of hard work, I truly believe that we can come out of this stronger than ever.

Kevin Avard is a Nashua resident and former two-term State Senator from District 12, running again for State Senate in 2020.