Most vulnerable need schools

We cannot allow the opening of schools to become another polarized political topic. While politicians and adults have been fighting over opening bars and wearing masks, American children have been out of school for a quarter of the year. School is necessary for more than just instruction. Many of our nation’s children live in poverty or under the threat of poverty. Add a pandemic, massive unemployment of parents, no guaranteed health care access, social isolation and school closings, and their suffering becomes magnified.

Many of the families I serve rely on school meals to keep their children fed. In fact, about 1 in 5 American children live with food insecurity. This number has likely increased during the last several months. For many children and teens, school is often a respite from neighborhood or household violence. Without school, they have no safe place to escape to.

Additionally, 1 in 5 children have a learning disability or difference that requires specialized instruction or accommodations. These students likely struggle with online assignments and instruction.

Now mix in the children with medical needs who receive necessary supportive therapies at school. I have witnessed many of them lose functional skills due to their inability to access those services.

Put all of this together, and what we have is a recipe for widening inequities for our most marginalized children. Reopening schools is not going to be an easy task. Infection rates are rising in many states. It is not in a child’s nature to physically distance among friends. Schools will need to be creative and nimble to keep children and staff safe. New school protocols will require additional investment of both monetary and human resources that may not be available.

That said, at the very least, we must focus on opening schools for our most vulnerable children. They cannot afford another six to 12 months of the current status quo. — Dr. Caren Mangarelli, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago