UNH survey reveals viewpoints on NH fall school re-openings

DURHAM — If a recent study is correct, two-thirds of parents and guardians of K-12 students in New Hampshire are comfortable sending their children back to school in the fall despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just under a thousand Granite Staters were surveyed in a poll released on Friday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center’s Granite State Panel. The poll was taken online between June 18 and 22 by randomly-selected participants weighed by a variety of U.S. Census Bureau criteria.

While New Hampshire parents support in-person learning this fall, how that should be achieved is still a matter of debate. Forty-eight percent of parents agree that having students remain in one room all day to minimize the amount of other people they come in contact with is a good idea and 42 percent of parents think it is a good idea for some students to attend school on certain days and other students to attend school on other days.

There is a partisan divide on restrictions that should be set in place, with 68 percent of Republicans believing school should return without any modifications for COVID-19 while only 19 percent of Democrats feel the same way.

For a full copy of the survey results, visit laconiadailysun.com

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