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1/ Like many other working parents, I am struggling with the decision to open schools in the fall. Here are some of my personal thoughts as I try to work through it.
A THREAD
A THREAD
2/ According to @ABschoolcouncil survey – which was filled out by 65,631 parents in May – 86% wanted to see a return-to-school plan for Sept. I am one of them. https://www.albertaschoolcouncils.ca/about/the-parent-voice/school-re-entry-survey-results
3/ The @ABschoolcouncil survey also showed that parents are concerned about: hygiene requirements (86%), sanitation standards (82%), and social distancing in schools (72%). Basically, they want assurances that schools will open safely to mitigate the health risks to our kids.
4/ So far, it appears that COVID-19 mortality rates for children under age 19 are thankfully low. Even if children do not generally experience severe illlness themselves, they can spread disease to adults. Every parent knows kids are walking petri dishes. https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m2290
5/ Children who are immuno-compromised or have underlying health conditions are more at risk of developing severe disease due to COVID-19. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037
6/ Then there’s the risk of children developing multi-system inflammatory syndrome as a result of exposure to COVID-19, which is still being researched and tracked. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/complication-constellation
7/ Context is also important. Schools and daycares shut down in mid-March. It’s difficult to speculate what infection and hospitalization rates among children would have looked like if everything had stayed open.
8/ Where there is scientific uncertainty – and there are still many unknowns about COVID-19 – taking a precautionary approach may be the most prudent thing we can do as a society. Which brings us back to schools and the 1000s of Alberta parents who want to see them open in Sept.
9/ Parents’ reasons to open schools seem to fall into 3 main categories: 1) not wanting kids to fall behind academically 2) supporting kids’ mental health 3) working parents need the consistency of full-time school to meet their own employment obligations and keep their jobs.
10/ There are many other reasons, of course. For some vulnerable kids, school is the safest place for them to be. So if opening schools is essential, how can we be assured that our kids will be safe? Particularly now when new cases are starting to trend upwards again.
11/ We know that there are many things that can be done to mitigate the risk, including installing physical barriers, increasing physical space to allow for social distancing, enhancing hygiene and cleaning practices, etc.
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/guidance-documents/covid-19-risk-mitigation-tool-child-youth-settings-operating-during-pandemic.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/guidance-documents/covid-19-risk-mitigation-tool-child-youth-settings-operating-during-pandemic.html
12/ Other countries’ experiences give us insight on how to reopen schools safely. In Denmark, which had average class sizes of around 20 students before the pandemic, classes were divided into two or three smaller groups and held outdoors when possible.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Brookings-Reopening-the-World-FINAL.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Brookings-Reopening-the-World-FINAL.pdf
13/ Denmark also required students to sit 2m apart and to wash hands every 2hrs. Some schools installed additional toilets/sinks. Many schools reduced hours or closed on some days. Families were asked to keep their kids at home if one parent didn’t have paid work.
14/ Expecting students to consistently wear masks for 7 hours/day, 5 days/week, is probably unrealistic. If we adopt Denmark's approach, then we’re looking at smaller class sizes, adapting physical spaces to better accommodate social distancing & possibly reducing school hours.
15/ Some ideas that have been bounced around include staggered days for in-person learning. Many working parents (understandably) don’t like this because it can make full-time employment difficult to maintain. Plus need to coordinate childcare when kids are home during off-days.
16/ So what to do? Here are a couple of crazy ideas. Ideas that require money. And I’m certainly not the first one to think of them.
17/ First, small class sizes. It’s probably fair to say that there is not currently enough physical space in schools to have small classes of (let's say) 15 students on a full-time basis. So where can we find additional temporary space?
18/ How about leasing vacant commercial space for temporary classrooms? Gov’t can provide school boards with additional funding to allow them to temporarily lease vacant space. Gov’t could also provide incentives to landlords to lease spaces at a discounted rate.
19/ This is assuming school boards ran out of other, cheaper rental options – like rec centers, community halls, churches, libraries, etc. Access to more temporary physical space=smaller class sizes, more social distancing, and safer full-time school.
20/ Funding to allow school boards to lease temporary space should also take into account whether additional teachers and staff need to be hired to support the new spaces. Setting this all up in the next few weeks would take a Herculean effort – and cost $$$. But not impossible.
21/ Second crazy idea. Classroom cohorts. Tough to do if a family has multiple children in different grades. How about putting all kids from the same family in the same classroom, one-room schoolhouse style? I know. I hate it too. My kids would hate it. But it reduces risk.
22/ The most radical idea to help support working parents who are trying to keep a job and their kids safe at school? Legislated wage and employment protections so that parents don’t risk losing their jobs -or their incomes- because they need to say home with a symptomatic kid.
23/ There are other issues re schools opening that are too numerous to mention here as this thread is long enough as it is. Like how to support students with disabilities, students who are immune-compromised or have chronic health conditions, and students with complex needs.
24/ Or whether to restrict substitute teachers from working at more than one school to prevent potential outbreaks between schools. Remember what happened when infectious part-time continuing care staff moved among different facilities?
25/ Or how the last few months have really exposed the vulnerabilities and disparities between families based on their socio-economic circumstances? Or the necessity of safe, accessible, and consistent childcare to support participation in the workforce & the economy?
26/ As I used to tell my students, there’s no such thing as a perfect answer - but some answers are better than others. If we truly value schools as an essential public good with the power to improve the lives of children and their families, then could we do better? END
