Docs offer playbook for getting kids back in school
Evidence is mounting that primary and secondary schools do not contribute significantly to the spread of COVID-19, particularly where appropriate safety protocols are in place. Teachers, parents and researchers continue to raise concerns about the mounting negative mental health impact and learning outcomes associated with prolonged distance learning, prompting calls by Gov. Baker and education leaders to get the children of Massachusetts back into the classroom, despite recordhigh COVID-19 rates.
At Boston University Academy — an independent, 200-student high school integrated with Boston University — we have just finished a semester of in-person learning open to all students four days per week with no reported positive cases among students and teachers, and only one case of a temporary staff member, which did not lead to any in-school transmission. Our experience offers lessons that may inform approaches at other schools.
We started with a clear commitment to maximizing in-person learning. We decided that even if conditions pushed us to be fully remote later in the fall or in the winter, having some weeks or months of in-person connection — when rates were low — would make any future remote-learning experience better for our kids.
We made a number of science-backed changes in the day-to-day student experience: new academic schedules; taking lockers and common rooms offline; reimagined athletic and music offerings; new lunch protocols. And we made significant investments in classroom furniture, HVAC, staffing, handwashing and sanitizing stations, and audiovisual technology to allow students and teachers to engage from home when needed.
The COVID-19 challenge in schools has as much to do with human behavior as it does with science. Creating a culture of compliance and cooperation has been key.
Rules are part of that, including mandated face coverings, physical distancing and morning health and symptom attestations. There are clear consequences for non-compliance.
But culture has done more than rules. This year more than any other, students want to be in school. The reason they follow the rules is not to avoid punishment; it is to stay in school, where they can see their friends and teachers every day. They remind one another to follow protocols, like the inconvenient and sometimes comedic oneway hallways and staircases around the building.
All manner of new questions arise daily, calling for a flexible approach to decision making.
As an example: From the opening of school, we had repurposed our gym as a space for students to eat lunch and work during free periods; the gym offers the possibility of well-spaced desks and a large volume of air — particularly important when kids are eating. It was the last space designated for HVAC upgrades and so, while work was being done, we propped open the exterior doors to improve airflow. The temperature dropped a few days before the upgrades were ready, but neither sending kids home nor closing the doors was a good option. The solution? Kids ate lunch and did their homework wearing their jackets.
A second example: A regional spike in cases coincided with the coming of Thanksgiving. The science suggested that in-person gatherings, even small ones, would lead to a significant uptick in transmission. We asked our families not to have in-person celebrations with friends and family outside their quarantine bubble, and if they did, we required that their children learn remotely the week following the holiday and test before returning.
Our students, faculty and staff undergo twice-weekly COVID-19 testing at no additional cost at Boston University’s testing facilities, generally receiving results within 24 hours. The ability to quickly identify, isolate and trace individuals who test positive and any close contacts means that the majority of the community can carry on with inperson learning. If there is evidence of more widespread transmission within school, we can quickly pivot to remote learning.
As more rapid, affordable testing options come to market, schools should implement routine testing for their students, teachers and staff.
Christos J. Kolovos is head of school at Boston University Academy, where co-authors Poznansky, Quackenbush and Lal are parents and members of the school’s Health Advisory Committee. Dr. Mark C. Poznansky is director of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an infectious disease physician and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. John Quackenbush is a professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Nidhi Lal is a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and a family physician at Boston Medical Center.