We are about to embark on the re-opening of the most important enterprise in our state and nation – education. This can only work if all of us understand shared responsibility, sacrifice, and mindfulness of “loving our neighbor as our self” – the Trump/McConnell/DeVos debacle notwithstanding.
Reopening recommendations seem to assume that schools will function the way they did before the pandemic. It’s clear that if school is held in person, it’ll be unlike anything we’ve seen before. Our children will not recognize it, and neither will parents, teachers, and administrators.
Can history instruct us on how to reopen our schools?
Mary Battenfeld, Professor of American Studies at Boston University, sees three main lessons we can learn from the 1918 Flu pandemic.
- Invest in school nurses – In November 1918, the New York City Health Commission underscored the role of school nurses. Being under “the constant observation of qualified persons” gave students “a degree of safety that would not have been possible otherwise”.
- Partner with other authorities – In a study of schools in 43 cities during the 1918 pandemic identified “planning that brings public health, education officials, and political leaders together” as key to successful responses.
- Name your priorities – In 1916, the U.S. Bureau of Education proclaimed that “education in schools is important, but life and health are more important.”
But today …
Now, with case numbers rising in 44 out of 50 states, Trump/McConnell/DeVos, after forcing the states to go it alone, has begun issuing marching orders to open schools full-time and on schedule, masks and social distancing be damned. In classic Trump “gaslighting”, not only has any hope for increased school funding faded, but Trump/McConnell/DeVos are threatening to defund individual school districts, colleges, and universities, if they don’t comply with the order to reopen.
Key warnings for school reopenings
Wendy Armstrong, professor of medicine at Emory University, and Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, have compiled some key warnings based on science and history for re-opening our schools:
- Schools/universities cannot be opened safely for in-person instruction if the virus is not contained in the local community.
- Staggered times of arrival and departure and staggered days for students in different levels make sense. Everyone on school buses must wear a mask while students are socially distanced.
- All adults in the school district/university need to model masks, hand washing, and social distancing.
- We may need to put a hold on extracurricular activities.
- The Council of Chief State School Officers has estimated that schools will need up to $250 billion to ensure that schools can do what is required to open safely. Trump/McConnell/DeVos Republicans are weaponizing a deadly waiting game!
We didn’t learn the lessons before this started; can we do it now?
Sadly, a century after we learned the importance of school nurses, fewer and fewer school districts/universities employ them. Only 60% of schools have a full-time nurse, and about 25% have no nurse at all. A recent study concluded that reopening safely will cost up to $400,000 per district to hire more nurses.
Unlike countries that drove down COVID-19 cases down first, we politicized masks into a symbol of our never-ending culture wars, opened bars, partied, and drank away our children’s future.
It’s not too late to get this right: slowly stage the reopening; practice strict mask wearing and social distancing both in schools and our communities; demand reliable and up-to-date scientific data so that school officials can continually assess outbreaks – and change course quickly, if necessary.
If we are willing, right now, to collectively agree to give up risky activities like beach vacations, large gatherings, and to wear masks religiously, we could lower infection rates enough to open schools safely, as other countries (Taiwan, South Korea, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France) have done. More tax dollars are desperately needed for readying school districts and universities. Every student, teacher, and staffer should be supplied with masks or face shields, and and we should provide extra in-school support for the physical and psychic trauma unique to this anxious moment in history.
We must ignore the confusing and politicized messaging of the Trump administration (including DeVos), and rely on science and health experts to guide our way. Opening schools safely is possible, but we have to get it right.
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