Schools prepare for reopening during pandemic
As schools prepare for reopening in the new academic year, the coronavirus presents an unprecedented challenge to safely restore in-person teaching. Late last month, reopening guidelines for Lake County K-12 schools were released, in anticipation of what will be an unconventional fall semester.
The local guidelines, available on the Lake County Office of Education website, lists several recommendations on how to safely conduct a campus reopening. The guidelines include daily health screenings, disinfecting environments, having a campus liaison to the local public health office, staff and students undergoing health and safety training, among other measures. Acknowledged in the document is the volatile and developing nature of the coronavirus pandemic. Updates may occur as the situation evolves.
Included in the guidelines is a link to “Back to School Protocols,” a separate document that outlines actions to take under various situations, including if a student or staff member, or a household member of theirs, is infected with or displays COVID-19 symptoms.
The guidelines were a collaboration between local government agencies including the Lake County Office of Education and the
Lake County Department of Health Services.
“We remain in close contact and discuss concerns and issues as they arise with the goal of finding solutions that work for Lake County and our local communities,” wrote Brock Falkenberg, Lake County Superintendent of Schools, in an email to the RecordBee. “Solutions that work in Los Angeles County or Sacramento County may not be a good fit in Lake County, so this local collaboration has been critical and productive.”
All staff and students, with some medical exceptions, are required to wear face coverings while in school. The rule, in accordance with a state order, applies to younger students as well—at least as of Thursday.
“My understanding is that the wearing of masks for elementary and preschool aged students is being reconsidered,” wrote Falkenberg in his Thursday morning email. “It is not always developmentally appropriate for students and staff to wear opaque masks, i.e. when learning phonics students need to see the positioning of the mouth. Schools are exploring options such as clear masks should this requirement remain in place.”
Despite still being in the first wave, California, along with other southern and western states, is experiencing an immense spike in COVID-19 infections. On Wednesday, the state had its highest single-day death toll at 149 known fatalities. Schools are ready to make further adjustments if need be, wrote Falkenberg, including reducing class sizes, shortening school days or even closing campuses once again. He added that parents will still have the option to keep their children enrolled in distance learning.
Individual school districts are continually preparing for the fall. Lakeport Unified School District has an ad-hoc committee dedicated to planning the reopening of its schools.
“The committee and myself felt that each individual site is obviously the best to develop their plans,” said LUSD Superintendent Jill Falconer in a Thursday phone interview. “So, the ad-hoc committee will get together again in about a week and review those options and communicate them to our parents.”
On Wednesday, President Trump denounced the federal guidelines for reopening schools provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He argued they were too restrictive and costly and threatened to possibly withhold funding for schools that don’t reopen. Hours later, his administration announced that new guidelines would be released. The following day however, the CDC director walked back that announcement and said the federal guidelines will not be altered.
“Other than promising funding for private schools to support costs associated with this pandemic, the federal administration has been silent on the issue of schools and education up to the July 4th weekend,” wrote Falkenberg. In contrast, he said, local and state officials have been tackling this issue “since early March.”
He added that local and state authorities have more jurisdiction over schools and districts. Experts and members of the media have said that Trump has little to no influence on school funding either.
Falkenberg wrote: “I trust our local school boards and local public health officials will make the appropriate decisions to consciously, deliberately, and safely make decisions about our local schools.”