Educators and parents have been wondering for weeks what is going to happen with schools in September.
Two days ago, NPR reported that the CDC released guidelines on how to manage this, stating that schools should not reopen “unless they are able to implement coronavirus screening protocols, evaluating employees and children daily for symptoms and potential past exposures to COVID-19.”
I downloaded the document pertaining to schools and read through it carefully. Not only am I concerned about September, but I’m thinking about what needs to be done in order to run a safe summer school program for students who need additional support moving from one grade to the next.
For starters…
Compliance with state and local mandates aside, in order to reopen, schools must be able to guarantee that protective measures will be in place to protect vulnerable populations. This includes (but is not limited to) students and staff members who have compromised immune systems for a variety of reasons, students and staff members who are asthmatic, and staff members over the age of 65.
I clicked through several of the hyperlinks in the hopes that something would portal me into a world of more complete information. Unfortunately what I’m finding is vague, at best.
Take this, for instance, which I found on one of the pages explaining the needs of those who are considered vulnerable for whatever reason:
Without a “specific treatment for or vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way [for vulnerable populations] to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus.” So what steps must a school put in place to “protect” them? What are some examples?
I have so many questions.
Before I go deeper down the rabbit hole, let me say first that I’m also looking at this through the lens of someone who works in secondary schools. There are a number of challenges for all grade levels, but systems and structures for secondary schools involve their own set of logistical complexities.
For example, in schools that utilize an 8 or 9 period day, students switch classes up to nine times. That’s nine different groups of students and adults that they come into contact with on any given day, and up to nine different seats that students occupy, and up to nine different surfaces that they touch.
Movement in and out of classrooms is one challenge. But what happens upon arrival, which is where schools must be prepared to “screen students and employees upon arrival for symptoms and history of exposure”?
Let’s say a typical middle school on Long Island houses approximately one thousand students. Even if schools are able to put social distancing measures in place and reduce that number by half on any given day, that’s still five hundred students in addition to scores of staff coming into the building at around the same time.
One or two school nurses are going to screen all individuals? How?
And should not these screening measures be put in place before students step onto a school bus? Would then every bus need to include a matron who is qualified to conduct these screenings?
Wherever it is to be conducted, how effective is the screening itself?
I’ve seen news reports about how some employers and even airlines are using temperature checks as one measure for symptom-screening. But it’s a questionable strategy insofar as accuracy and effectiveness, especially when anywhere from an estimated 1 – 17% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 do not have a fever.
In the last week, Governor Cuomo and both county supervisors on Long Island have been cautioning the public about a frightening new development in our understanding of how COVID-19 affects children. Can these symptoms be checked at the door?
What if we were to go so far as to administer actual COVID-19 tests to all once or twice a week (let’s put aside questions about logistics and consent for a moment)? Are the tests even accurate enough to provide responsible indicators?
How many individuals will walk into a building with no symptoms whatsoever and contribute to a spread the virus under the radar?
So what do we do “out of an abundance of caution” (remember that phrase from March)? Do we create a classroom environment where individuals can maintain 6 feet distance from one another at all times? Ok – maybe we can do that in the classrooms with placement of furniture and by limiting the number of students in the room at one time. But what about entering and leaving the building? The queue for symptom checks? Hallways? Lockers? Lunch rooms?
Limitations in word choice
As I unpack the second and third columns of the flowchart, my eyes gravitate to these words:
Promote healthy hygiene practices…
Encourage social distancing… Encourage anyone who is sick to stay home.
Intensify cleaning, disinfecting, and ventilation…
Forgive me, but the English teacher in me understands the inherent limitations in these words. To “promote” means to support or to actively encourage. It does not mean “to ensure compliance.” The word “encourage” is also a little fluffy. I can “encourage” lots of things all day long. It does not mean “to ensure compliance.”
“Intensify” simply means to do more, but to do more than what has been done before? And is simply doing more doing best?
In sum…
As far as I can tell, there are thirteen total performance indicators that schools must meet to reopen. As noted above, the performance indicators and the language within them do not offer a complete picture of what the “performance” should actually entail.
Perhaps I’m failing to acknowledge the inherent need to keep this all a little vague because schools across the nation are diverse and have divergent needs. Perhaps a clear one-size-fits-all set of specific guidelines will not work.
If that is the case, who then is to interpret these performance indicators and make them applicable to the needs of local schools and school districts?
And what if our knowledge of this virus, on how it spreads and on how it affects children differently, changes before September?
Like I said, I have so many questions…
Inside the Launch Window 