It’s a shame the discussion on when and how to reopen schools became a political debate, rather than one focused on the children. It is a shame that personalities became involved even after the final decision to reopen schools was made.

Throughout June, leaders with the Vicksburg Warren School District sought input from parents, teachers, staff and administrators. They gleaned the best resources from state health officials, the Centers for Disease Control and the Mississippi Department of Education.

Even with the experts weighing in, with decision-makers having a say and with thousands of people in the Warren County community having an input, there were those who could not be happy with what was decided, even though parents were given a choice.

F0r those who made the decision to send their children back to school beginning Friday, there is an option. For those who want to keep their children home, there is an option.

Both groups, both ways of thinking were given an outlet to get what they were looking for. So why we are still arguing?

Why are elected officials who have no authority in the decision now conducting surveys and trying to wedge themselves into a decision that has already been made? Where were those thoughts, comments and survey results when the decision was still being discussed?

We are hours away from school beginning for thousands of our children. We are hours away from bus drivers picking up students and parents rolling through drop-off lines, taking their most cherished possessions to school.

With the decision to start school long debated and long decided, it is no longer time to argue, to debate or to groan. Rather, it is time to get behind the schools, get behind our teachers, get behind our bus drivers, and get behind our children as they begin this school year.

It is also time to be supportive of parents who have made the decision they feel is best for their children — whether that is in-person or distance learning.

A school year at the Vicksburg Warren School District, Porter’s Chapel Academy and Vicksburg Catholic Schools is challenging in the best of years; in normal years. This year is anything but normal.

It is time to put away the criticism, put away the surveys, put away the social media gripe-sessions and get to work.