THIS IS WHAT IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE WHEN SCHOOLS REOPEN
What will it look like when Arizona schools reopen?
It’s a good question. The short answer is we don’t know yet.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a one-page decision tree for reopening schools. And based on the criteria, Arizona schools may be hardpressed to meet every requirement.
Consider the first round of questions schools must be able to answer:
❚ Will reopening be consistent with applicable state and local orders? Gov. Doug Ducey has said he wants schools to reopen in person in the fall if public-health data supports it. So, yeah, barring a mass resurgence in cases, it’s a good bet the answer will be yes.
❚ Is the school ready to protect children and employees at higher
risk for severe illness? This sounds simple but could get tricky, depending on which phase of reopening the state is in when school resumes. White House criteria suggest people with higher risk should stay home in Phases 1 and 2 and minimize exposure to places where physical distancing is not practical (like classrooms for younger students) in Phase 3. If those teachers can’t teach in person, will they be able to do it from home?
❚ Are you able to screen students and employees upon arrival for symptoms and history of exposure? This will likely get some parents up in arms. And it could quickly turn into a nightmare for administrators if they must track students’ history of exposure.
If schools can meet these three criteria, they can move on to the second part of the decision tree, which has its own challenges:
❚ Train all employees on health and safety protocols. This is doable.
❚ Intensify cleaning, disinfection and ventilation. Also probably not much of a problem for schools.
❚ Promote healthy hygiene practices such as hand washing and employees wearing a cloth face covering, as feasible. Masks are good, and hand washing should be standard classroom practice. I fully expect hand soap and sanitizer to be in high demand on backto-school lists.
❚ Encourage social distancing through increased spacing, small groups and limited mixing between groups, if feasible. Here’s the red flag for schools. Most buildings are inflexibly designed, and Arizona’s studentteacher ratios are already among the highest in the nation. It may be difficult to spread out students without modifying classrooms or cafeterias or hiring more staff – both of which are unlikely, given how difficult it is to fund building renovations and that 1 in 4 classrooms are already without a permanent teacher.
Presuming schools can meet all of those criteria, they must then:
❚ Develop and implement procedures to check for signs and symptoms of students and employees daily upon arrival, as feasible. This could be a polarizing measure for parents – some will insist on daily temperature checks for students. Others will object.
❚ Encourage anyone who is sick to stay home. Well, duh.
❚ Plan for if students or employees get sick. This is doable, but complicated. Will schools blend in-person and online learning when students get sick? How do they cover for teachers if they are out for two weeks? Whatever the expectations are, they will have to be clearly spelled out for everyone.
❚ Regularly communicate and monitor developments with local authorities, employees and families regarding cases, exposures, and updates to policies and procedures. If it’s the school’s responsibility to communicate with parents about cases and possible exposures (which makes sense – parents need to know), administrators will almost have to function as contact tracers. As if they didn’t already have a ton on their plates.
❚ Monitor student and employee absences and have flexible leave policies and practices. Again, flexibility is good. But it could also create inconsistencies for students if some teachers can teach in person and others can’t.
❚ Be ready to consult with the local health authorities if there are cases in the facility or an increase in cases in the local area. More trickiness here, particularly if schools develop cases or exposures, or if there are cases in the neighborhoods surrounding them. What are the cutoffs for closing or reopening? Could students leave each day not knowing if school will be open the next?
If schools can meet each of these safeguards, according to the CDC, they can reopen. I’m sure some can and will. The larger point is this will be a bigger challenge than it seems.
I don’t envy principals’ jobs this summer or into the fall.