Well, it’s a really cool thing that you only get a once in a lifetime chance to witness first hand unless you have a shit ton of money for travel (most people don’t). So I say, let them have it.
Tbh I remember we even readied sunglasses or similar stuff and went out for partial eclipses during the school days. It just made sense to include this in the teaching.
Depends on the location and timing. For a lot of the northeast part of the path, the eclipse is going to happen right after school lets out. Most of the students would still be on their way home