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*sigh* Schools & school districts are complex systems serving children & families, who have many widely varying needs. You didn’t seriously think we could just tweak things a little, w/no extra resources, and open up in the middle of a pandemic w/just a few minor bumps, did you?
It’s great that NYC’s infection rate is down, but that was only the first precondition for reopening buildings. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/nyregion/schools-reopen-nyc.html You can’t remake a >1mil pupil system overnight. You need planning, funding, & *time.*
It’s great NJ has been able suppress the virus. But you can’t expect a whole bunch of small, autonomous districts (that’s most of NJ) to act in concert during a public health crisis when guidelines are constantly shifting and there’s no extra $ forthcoming coming.
A lot of folks thought all the planning would take place over the summer. But how does a school plan a radical shift in instruction when most of its staff is on its annual unpaid summer furlough?
Back in the spring, we were distracted by a bunch of magical thinking about school reopening. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/30/how-stop-magical-thinking-school-reopening-plans/ We’re now going to pay the price - not necessarily in viral spread (although that’s certainly possible), but in educational chaos.
Many on-the-ground school superintendents were warning us about this. Many teachers & their unions were as well. The shade that was thrown their way was totally unwarranted, but it also highlights how shallow the thinking about reopening has been from non-educators.
Consequently, we are going to see more of this: https://www.njspotlight.com/2020/08/newark-nj-school-system-scraps-in-person-fall-reopening/ Even if the virus is under control, we aren’t ready. What a waste.
