As parents across the country struggle with the decision of whether or not to send their children back to school amid the coronavirus pandemic, Ivanka Trump and her husband, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, are revealing their plans for the upcoming school year. Speaking with CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday, Kushner said that his children would “absolutely” be heading back to the classroom for “in-person education.”
Kushner and Trump are parents to Arabella Rose Kushner, 9, Joseph Frederick Kushner, 6, and Theodore James Kushner, 4. Their children attend the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital, according to a recent report from The New York Times. In early August, the school released its fall 2020 reopening plan, which entails “an Off-Campus & Outdoor model” for the beginning of the school year. Students in grades 1-8 will “principally use distance learning for academic instruction, with regular in-person opportunities for outdoor education and community building.” Despite those plans, Kushner said he would prefer his children to be back in the classroom, and as soon as that is possible, that is precisely what they’ll do.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“This virus impacts people in different ways,” Kushner said. “We know a lot more now than we did, and assuming — our school is not opening up five days a week, I wish they were — but we absolutely will be sending our kids back to school, and I have no fear in doing so.”
Kushner went on to claim that children are six times more likely to die from the flu than the coronavirus, though he did not cite any studies claiming such. He said that “based on the data I’ve seen, I don’t believe that that’s a risk” regarding the possibility of his children being exposed to and becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus.
Kushner’s confidence in sending children back to school echoes that of the president’s. Throughout the pandemic, the president has voiced his belief that the country should reopen and that children should return for in-person learning. In late July, he had even told reporters during a coronavirus briefing that he is “comfortable” with sending his son, 14-year-old Barron, as well as his grandchildren back to school. Currently, Barron’s school, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, a private school in Potomac, Maryland, is scheduled to begin classes virtually. That decision was made after Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles announced that all private schools in the county remain closed to in-person courses until at least Oct. 1. Gov. Larry Hogan later overturned that order.
