By Kim Smith
COVID-19 has run roughshod over America, and aside from the economy which is topsy-turvy, another of its major impacts is on the education of our children. A large part of the problem is the disease's capriciousness; the other is how little is actually known definitively. This means that flexibility will be a major aspect of any decisions, particularly if the disease enters a second phase, or like the Spanish Flu of 1918 that killed an estimated 50 million, goes into a 3rd phase.
What we know in relation to schools is that most studies indicate children do best when physically present in school buildings with teachers at the core. Virtual learning is simply not a substitute – and some have suggested it's "an utter failure". We also know that for those of any age who travel to the worst end of the spectrum, it is a "terrifying" disease (as stated by a UVA researcher studying interlukin 13- which activates the "killer cells", triggering cytokine storms and turning the body against itself).
How schools should open given these basic premises is the topic of USA-wide discussions. In mid-July, Ballotpedia reviewed each state's approach to the issue – and they were all over the boards. "Plans" ranged from 5 day-a-week in school to hybrid to all virtual learning. Some had voluminous and specific guidance from the state; others in the hybrid realm had general recommendations to follow CDC guidance and let the individual school boards decide.
What is not known without question fills volumes. What about the students themselves? Their ages, attention spans and abilities to utilize technology? Their self-motivation? Their nutritional needs? Available adult supervision if learning at home? How many have underlying conditions? Do they even transmit the disease?
The teachers in a physical setting are a major consideration. Ages? Underlying health problems that make them more vulnerable? The fact that the major workers' compensation has stated that proving exposure to COVID in the workplace would make successful compensation claims unlikely – leading to large medical bills without teachers, with reduced incomes, having access to enough money to pay?
Could those teachers who should NOT be exposed be placed in charge of the various virtual learning curriculum? Would Saturday on-line school make sense since many parents are off on weekends so teachers and parents would be available to instruct and supervise?
Parents in a hybrid or total virtual world need to be considered. How many are single parents? One or both who need to work to provide for their family? Have the commitment to ensure that their children are learning as much as possible? Have the level of education to support virtual learning? Have the patience?
Of course, virtual learning brings up the issue of broadband, to which so many of our children do not have access in the first place. Have the schools established fixed and/or mobile hotspots (they have taxpayer funded high speed internet and parking lots)? Are there public hotspots in the county? Are there public or private facilities convenient to students where they could go – and how do they get there? Under this scenario, it's possible we could have small group learning centers – again with an adult supervising, that could help fill in some of the gaps.
The physical buildings themselves raise a number of questions. What are the buildings capacities? Are they such that they lend themselves to reduced class sizes? Some plans call for repurposing rooms – such as the libraries, the gyms, the auditoriums, the cafeterias – since almost all plans call for no congregate eating – to reduce class sizes and facilitate social distancing. What changes would have to be implemented to cleaning, since it would be more like sterilizing? And should the set-up include no students traveling to different classes but rather teachers traveling, with their supplies, to teach a different subject, again to minimize exposures?
On the issue when students are actually traveling to the physical building – the bus transportation – there is some consensus in the plans. One student per seat, masked, with parents doing delivery and pick-up where possible, seems to be rather universal.
Then there are the real elephants in the room - masks. They are recommended for all students aged 10 and older, not for those under 9. How many schools have both children 10 and up AND 9 and under? How do schools enforce that? And the real question is, how well do they work? There are a number of studies that indicate that surgical masks and cloth masks don't. Some indicate they reduce needed oxygen intake that accompanies unmasked breathing; others challenge their ability to filer out 0.1 microns – the size of the virus. Some also suggest that they increase the likelihood of disease transmission, COVID and otherwise.
The biggest of all elephants is MONEY. An increasing number of commentaries challenge the money that our property taxes pay into the school system, particularly if it's going to a primarily virtual teaching method. With administrators having fewer things to administer; with less maintenance of the empty buildings; with fewer or no miles on the buses; with no or delayed sports; with less access to supplies and equipment normally provided within the schools…. should some of the money be diverted to families to find "safe, effective places where children can learn" or "increase assistance to facilities and programs that can provide support to expand capacity" or to private schools, or to homeschool consortiums, or to "Remote Learning Academies" geographically placed in community centers, church halls, empty business conference rooms" that can meet the physical requirements placed upon parents and children by COVID-19?
The school system has some serious challenges facing it with serious potential consequences. If they identify areas where help is needed, it would be well to remember that this is a whole community issue. Administrators should consider reaching out to those community-sponsored organizations (e.g., fire, rescue, veterans service organizations, and others with physical locations).
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