Pressure building on school districts over plans for fall

MANCHESTER, Mo. — Administrators in the Parkway school district in suburban St. Louis spent the summer break crafting a flexible reopening plan, with options that include full-time classroom learning, full-time online instruction and a hybrid system.

It’s a good thing, because the dangers of the coronavirus are so uncertain that district officials are reluctant to make predictions about the fall semester, which begins in just five weeks. Confirmed coronavirus infections in Missouri’s hardest-hit city waned in June, but they are now spiking, along with hospitalizations. Schools plan to resume classes Aug. 24.

“If you had asked me even two weeks ago, ‘Do you think we would be able to come back?’ I would have said, ‘Yeah,’” Assistant Superintendent Kevin Beckner said. “Today my answer is ‘I’m not sure,’ just because of how the situation has changed so quickly.”

Schools around the U.S. face the same dilemma. With the number of reported covid-19 cases and deaths still rising, districts must grapple with whether to bring students back to classrooms, and how to keep pupils and teachers safe if they do.

Pressure is mounting in many areas to reopen classrooms. President Donald Trump has urged schools to bring children back to class in the fall and has threatened to cut off federal funding if they do not.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest public school system behind New York City, announced last week that all classes will be conducted virtually when they resume next month.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis noted that many school districts in his state “are going back as planned, as normal, taking the kinds of precautions that health experts and scientists recommend.”

In Missouri’s St. Louis County, the Parkway district is scheduled to announce its plans for the fall today, but it will stay ready to pivot quickly if the spread worsens or the outlook improves, Beckner said.

“Even if we are able to bring back all of our students, it won’t look the same as it was in February,” Beckner said. “There will be more hand-washing. There will be more restrictions on how we’re able to do things like lunch, like recess.”

Signs will encourage social distancing, and desks will be spaced farther apart. Face coverings will be required for all students, instructors and staff. Some teachers will wear masks with clear coverings so students who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow what they are saying.

Times will be scheduled for-hand washing and using hand sanitizer. Plexiglas will separate librarians, office staff and teachers interacting one-on-one with students. A nurse will perform contact tracing on confirmed cases.

In Chattanooga, Tenn., third grade teacher Leigh Grady is preparing to enter both a new school and a new world after a tornado demolished most of East Brainard Elementary in April.

“It’s going to be a hot mess express,” she said. “I can’t even wrap my mind fully around what it’s going to look like.”

Masks will be mandatory for staff and all but the youngest students. Seating will be assigned on buses, and lunches served in classrooms.

Water fountains will be off-limits, and restrooms will be disinfected “after each class goes as a group.”

If a teacher or student tests positive for the virus, schools will close for 48 to 72 hours, and the county is working with a staffing agency to line up substitutes.

If a rise in confirmed cases warrant it, schools will operate under more restrictive measures, with students taking turns spending part of the week at school and part at home.

“All it’s going to take is one kid with a positive test, and that will shut everything down,” she said.

“It’s going to be a hot mess express. I can’t even wrap my mind fully around what it’s going to look like.” — Leigh Grady, a teacher in Chattanooga, Tenn.