Schools adapt amid surge in cases
Virus testing, masks and remote learning follow winter break
Mask requirements are returning in some school districts that had dropped them. Some plan to vastly ramp up virus testing among students and staff. And a small number of school systems are switching to remote learning — for just a short while, educators hope.
With coronavirus infections soaring, the return from schools’ winter break will be different than planned for some as administrators again tweak protocols and make real-time adjustments in response to the shifting pandemic. All are signaling a need to stay flexible.
“Change has been the only constant in this fight,” Newark Schools Superintendent Roger León wrote to parents before break.
Long after the widespread closures in the pandemic’s early days, school and elected leaders say they are using the lessons and tools of the past two years to try to navigate the latest surge without long-term shutdowns, which had woeful effects on learning and students’ well-being.
Still, pressure from parents and teachers unions has added to the urgency surrounding safety measures as the omicron-fueled surge sends up caseloads and puts children in the hospital in close to record numbers.
“They say kids do well (if infected), but who’s to say my kid is not going to be that one,” said Rebecca Caldwell, who is considering petitioning her Charleston, Illinois, district for a remote option that would let her keep her four sons, ages 17, 10, 7 and 5, home through the winter.
The first half of the school year brought Caldwell’s family three scares from exposures. One, from a family member, kept the family in quarantine for 10 days. Her 17-year-old and 10-year-old saw classmates infected, and each underwent a nerve-wracking series of COVID-19 tests as part of a more recent “testto-stay” policy.
In the nation’s largest school system, New York City, 2 million at-home test kits provided by the state will be used to increase testing following the break, officials announced this week. Students whose classmates test positive can keep coming to school as long as their at-home tests are negative and they don’t have symptoms.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents New York City educators, questioned whether the new testing initiatives will be available in every school by the time schools reopen Monday.
“We are moving closer to a safe reopening of school,” he said. “But we are not there yet.”
In Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district, officials announced the purchase of 100,000 laptops over the holidays in case they are needed for remote learning in January, though district leaders said they hope to avoid a system-wide closure. The Chicago Teachers Union has proposed pausing in-person learning unless new safety measures are introduced, including negative COVID tests for returning students.
Los Angeles health officials last week announced tightened testing and masking rules for all employees and students when LA County public and private schools return to campuses Monday. Concerned by a spike of the omicron variant, the county health department mandated that teachers must wear medical grade masks in class and students and staff must wear masks outdoors in crowded spaces. Schools will have two weeks to comply.
To help keep as many students in school as possible, the Centers for Disease Control and U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona endorsed test-to-stay in December as an alternative to the previously recommended 10-day quarantines. Hundreds of schools have adopted test-to-stay policies for students who have had contact with an infected classmate.
Cardona said 99% of schools were open in-person in December, compared with 46% last January.
Out of more than 13,000 school districts nationwide, relatively few have announced plans to start remotely after winter break.
Like Newark, those districts generally plan to resume in-person instruction within a couple of weeks. They include Chester County, South Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Mount Vernon, New York; Prince George’s County, Maryland; Taos, New Mexico; and several New Jersey school systems.
Citing the city’s high infection rate, Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti last week extended the winter break for nearly 50,000 students through at least Wednesday and urged them to get tested through the district. Tests are required for employees.
Masks also will make a return in some districts after break, including Hopkinton High School, the first Massachusetts public school to lift the mandate, in October. It was reinstated just before break.
Some school systems are moving toward requiring vaccinations for students, but not soon.
In the Los Angeles school district, which was among the first to announce mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for students, a Jan. 10 deadline for students 12 and older was postponed until this fall. Officials said the earlier date would have barred about 27,000 unvaccinated students.