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Yesterday there was a lot of discussion on here about getting our kids back in school and what was needed. I mentioned wanting to see action from the city and council, but wasn't very specific about what I thought was needed. So, I wanted to follow up. Thread!
I think that most of the talk around this has started because of this article in the Washington Post, which states that schools don't greatly contribute to transmission. The big caveat: if guidelines are followed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/cdc-school-virus-spread/2021/01/26/bf949222-5fe6-11eb-9061-07abcc1f9229_story.html
That article recommends a few things:
1. Require masks
2. Allow for six feet of distance between students
3. Keep students in cohorts
4. Screening tests to ID asymptomatic
5. Increased air ventilation
1. Require masks
2. Allow for six feet of distance between students
3. Keep students in cohorts
4. Screening tests to ID asymptomatic
5. Increased air ventilation
Metro did two of these things in the fall, masks and cohorts. Our school told us they couldn't keep students six feet apart, could not address ventilation (not even allowed to open windows), and there was no screening other than temp checks that PARENTS were supposed to do.
So, what can we do to make parents like me feel better about returning to school? Here's some ideas:
1. Provide high quality (N95 or KN95) masks to staff and teachers, and have a supply for students too. Mask quality matters, and expecting staff to provide their own is a risk.
1. Provide high quality (N95 or KN95) masks to staff and teachers, and have a supply for students too. Mask quality matters, and expecting staff to provide their own is a risk.
2. Find creative solutions to the space problem. Six feet is between students is required, start from there. Do we need more trailers on some campuses? Annexed locations for some cohorts? Would churches/community centers offer space? Bending on this rule is not acceptable to me.
3. Implement regular testing of students and staff. This is a big undertaking and would require funding, but it would greatly reduce the risk of spread.
4. Address the ventilation issues in schools. This is potentially very expensive and time consuming, so perhaps there are creative solutions here. Open windows and doors, fans, etc.
5. This won't be popular, but stop all sports. It is ridiculous that we don't let kids go to school, but we'll let them play football and basketball, no problem. Sports put the entire school at higher risk of infection. It's not as important as learning.
6. Implement rigorous contact tracing for infected individuals. As far as I know, this was not done in the fall when kids went back.
7. Finally, the rest of the city needs to make sacrifices so that kids can go back, at least until spread is contained. Bars should be closed, restaurants should be carry out only, etc. Prioritize the education of our children. This is how we get back safely.
So, as far as asks from me to Metro government, please fund these kinds of initiatives! We spent CARES money to buy laptops and hotspots for kids so that they could work from home, and that was a big win. Now we need to spend money in order to get them safely back in school.
I will admit that I don't know where the money for this will come from, but I also know that there is a lot of aid out there right now. I'd like to see a plan from the Mayor or council to implement safety measures like these to make opening schools a reality we can all live with.
It's also possible that some of these things have been addressed (maybe there was contact tracing?), but if so, as a parent, I wasn't aware of it. Better communication around all of this would also go a long way.
Our council has created a committee to address COVID concerns for the city (I sat in on the first meeting yesterday). It's encouraging to see that there is a desire to address all of this, and I am hopeful because of that.
However, just hitting an arbitrary number on our COVID scale isn't enough. We need a real plan. Tagging @freddieoconnell @memangrum @Erinfor12 here, as they were all a part of the discussion yesterday. I hope this is helpful in some way.
