San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Schools stick to reopening despite surge, parents’ fears
Bay Area students will flood back into schools starting Monday after spending two weeks with family and friends or even traveling to other states and countries just as the omicron wave is hitting California.
The combination of a huge rise in coronavirus cases and exposure during the holiday break has left families and teachers concerned about the return to in-person learning in the coming days.
But pandemic experts, health officials, Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Biden are in lockstep on how to proceed: test, mask and continue teaching in person.
“Nothing’s changed,” said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease expert of reopened schools. The general position is to “not touch that dial.”
That doesn’t mean the status quo will be easy, with state-promised test kits arriving after school starts and chilly classrooms from windows
opened to increase ventilation.
Given the devastating academic and mental health impact of distance learning on students, closing classrooms has become “the third rail of educational policy,” Rutherford said, adding that K-12 schools are not expected to move temporarily to virtual learning as many state universities and colleges have.
“Schools should be approaching omicron with caution — but NOT fear,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a tweet Tuesday. “Just like we teach in the classroom, we can learn from past experiences, trust the science, and use tools like test-to-stay & vaccination to keep schools safe & open.”
Despite the omicron variant, there is little to no talk of a return to virtual learning among Bay Area school districts.
In a joint statement with teachers and school employee unions, the state PTA, California school administrator and superintendent associations, as well as charter school officials, Newsom reiterated his commitment to keeping schools open.
Local education and health officials across the region echoed the state stance.
“We must do everything possible to keep students safely attending schools,” Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco health officer, said in a statement Wednesday. “The mental health impacts on students due to social isolation far outweigh the challenges of in-person learning.”
There will, however, be challenges, officials said.
The goal for many districts and state leaders is for students and staff to get tested or self-test at least once before returning to classes.
In Oakland, officials passed out test kits at schools before the winter break with instructions on how to use them before returning to school. Marin County did the same.
“It’s a simple concept,” said Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis, adding that 96,000 tests were distributed. “Those who are positive will not come to school and will isolate.”
The tests aren’t mandatory, but strongly encouraged.
The county requested the kits in early December from the state to plan for what Willis calls the “testapalooza.” Families and staff will report the results through an online program and, if positive, call the schools as well.
District leaders are working on contingency plans to address staff absences related to illness or quarantine.
“The biggest concern would be staff shortages based on isolation,” Willis said, which could lead to some classrooms going remote, but not entire schools or districts.
Schools across the Bay Area and state have already been grappling with a shortage of substitutes when educators are out because of COVID-19 or for other reasons, requiring administrators to step in or teachers to give up a planning period to cover classrooms. Other workplaces, including hospitals, have faced similar concerns.
In addition, not all districts have the resources for that kind of universal testing.
State health officials said they’ve sent out 2 million athome tests — enough for only about a third of state K-12 students — with more to be shipped out over the next few weeks, despite Newsom’s commitment to make the tests available to all 6 million public school kids “as they head back to the classroom from winter break.”
San Francisco school officials said they won’t receive the selftest kits from the state for at least a few days after school starts Monday. In the meantime, the district has increased the number of mobile testing sites starting Sunday and strongly encourages students to get tested.
“We’ve shared multiple opportunities with families via phone, text and email to get tested and vaccinated,” said district spokesperson Laura Dudnick.
San Francisco middle school teacher John Lisovsky said he’s “super concerned” about omicron, but doesn’t want to see schools closed again.
“I don’t think distance learning can work. I don’t endorse it,” said Lisovsky, who teaches at Francisco Middle School, adding that he’s worried about staff absences, especially a potential shortage of security aides given the behavior issues coming out of the pandemic. Those have included fights, mask resistance and students out of class.
“Omicron absences will undoubtedly be painful, but I worry most about our indispensable security aides,” he said. “Covering classes is one thing, but security aides have a unique role in school safety, and any extended COVID absence would seriously impact teaching and learning.”
In Albany, parent Leila Knox isn’t worried about sending her ninth-grade daughter to school this week.
“I feel we’ve done everything we can as a community,” she said, noting that the East Bay city’s high vaccination rate and ongoing mitigation measures in schools. “In a way, schools provide a safe haven and controlled environment for preventing the spread of further disease.”
She worries about decisions made based on fear rather than science and expert advice. Some parents are calling for schools to shut down based on one reported case, while those in a few districts have urged kids with known exposure to stay home despite negative tests and vaccinations, which is not the advice of state and federal health officials.
Albany Superintendent Frank Wells, for example, in letter Wednesday, told families who were traveling Saturday or Sunday that they “can consider” keeping their children home for a few days in case symptoms emerge, and then take a rapid test midweek before returning to school.
Such advice could lead to students missing school when official health recommendations say they should go, experts said.
Federal, state and local health officials have not recommended quarantine after travel for those who are fully vaccinated. Cardona argued against unnecessary interruptions in learning in his tweet, noting that if people are vaccinated and exposed, they should quarantine only if they test positive.
“I do think the fear tends to drive decision-making for whatever reason here,” Knox said. “We’re almost too woke for our own good.”