How To Reopen The Schools

Representative John Lewis in from of the Edmund Pettis Bridge
cnn.com

Hello Everyone:
Yours Truly is back after spending a week dealing with a family matter and is ready to write.

Before we get started on today's subject, let us take a moment to commemorate the passing of a Civil Rights icon, Representative John Lewis of Georgia.  Representative Lewis was among the "big six" civil rights leaders who literally risked their lives to insure fairness and equality, for all African Americans, under the law.  He lead the Students Nonviolence Coordinating Committee and participated in Freedom Rides.  Representative Lewis was beaten within an inch of his life while crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama.  Throughout his life, Rep. Lewis vigorously fought for what was fair and what was right, laying the foundation for the Women, LGBTQIA, and Chicano Movements in the sixties and seventies.  Stand up, John Lewis is passing by.  Onward

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It is the end of July and it is back to school time.  Normally Blogger's inbox would be bursting with emails blaring sales on everything from computer equipment to socks.  However, this back to school season is not like every back to school because of COVID-19.  When schools were abruptly closed back in March, parents, guardians, and teachers were forced to cobble together something that resembled a curriculum to keep the children from falling behind.  That did not   work out too well.  Working mothers were forced to bear the brunt of the childcare burden and those who could, hired private tutors.  Now here we are, time to start the fall semester but how do you open school while there is a raging pandemic?  Why is it important to reopen school?

sciencemag.org

Why should schools reopen?  If you ask the parents and guardians, they might tell you they cannot wait to get their children out of the house.  You ask the children, they might tell you they are actually ready to go back to school and see their friends.  Complicating the matter are questions about the children' safety.  The current available suggests that "if children become infected, they are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms" (cdc.gov; July 23, 2020; date accessed July 27, 2020).  School aged children have lower mortality rates than adults (Ibid).  At the same time, not going to school can lead to significant short- and long-term social, behavioral, and emotional consequences as well as damage academic achievement and affect a student's economic future.    Further, the lack of in-person instruction options disproportionately harms low-income, minority, and disabled students.  These students are less likely to have access to private instruction and resource support--i.e. food, counseling, special education, and after school programs--to address their developmental needs (Ibid).  How should parents and guardians decide whether to send their children back to school

ocregister.com

Over the next few weeks, parents and guardians will be faced with the daunting choice of whether to send their children back to school for in-person instruction or continue with online instruction.  The determinants in making this decision are: a student and family's risk for infection or instruction platform options (in-person, online, or combination).  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--cdc.gov-- provides tools parents and guardian can use to guide their decision.  If you go to the CDC website, you can access a worksheet that can help you assess the risk.  The worksheet is designed to help gauge a student's risk for infection based on underlying conditions (eg. respiratory illness), does the family live with someone who is at risk for severe illness from the virus due to age or underlying condition, and the level of community spread.

Some children may be at greater risk of contracting the COVID virus or may be at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19,  For these children, parents and caregivers may need to take additional precautions.  Who are the people at greater risk for the virus? Older adults, people with underlying conditions, and people with medical conditions such as COPD, heart conditions, chronic kidney disease.  People who require extra precautions include racial and ethnic minority groups; people in rural communities; people experiencing homelessness; pregnant and breastfeeding women; people with disabilities; people with developmental and behavioral issues.  Also, people who support individuals needing extra precautions include caregivers, group homes for disabled, newly resettled refugee populations (cdc.gov; July 21, 2020; date accessed July 27, 2020).  School aged children are included in the high risk groups.  What can a parent or guardian do in order to decide whether to send their child back to school?

ncee.org

    The best way for parents and guardians to make that decision is review a school or school district reopening plan to get a better grasp of what steps they taking to reduce the spread of the virus and support educational goals.  School can put in place disease reduction strategies that address four  key areas:

1. promote behaviors that reduce the spread (eg. social distancing, face covering, regular hand washing)
2. maintaining a healthy environment (cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces proper ventilation)
3. maintaining health operations (staggered schedules, dividing students into pods)
4. preparing for someone falling sick (Ibid) 

Schools in communities with higher levels of SARS-CoV-2 will likely take more aggressive measures to prevent the spread of the virus.  The CDC has made available a guide, Considerations for School, for ways schools can safely reopen their doors.  Parents and guardians might also interest to find out how schools plan to support their children' emotional well being, online and in-person.

Further, schools can work with state, local, territorial, and tribal health officials to decide what and how to implement strategies that meet each students' unique needs and communities' circumstances.  Roll out of these strategies should be done in a feasible, practical, way, tailored to each place.

Ultimately the decision rests with the parents and guardians whether to send their children back to school for in-person instruction.  In making that decision, each family should consider its unique needs and what strategies the school is implementing to reduce virus transmission.  Most important, parents and guardians should be guided by what is in the best interest of their children, not by politics.  Schools and school districts should have support networks in-place to meet each student's physical, emotional, and academic goals.  There are still too many unknowns about COVID-19 and one of them should not be how a school is going to reopen safely.