Closing schools should be a last resort

Then there are schools. Having been used before, the remote option is available, so there appears to be some sympathy behind the idea of sending everyone home again until the worst is over. It’s hard to overstate what a bad idea that would be.

It maybe hasn’t seeped into the public consciousness as much as it should have, but the psychological wounds of closed schools last year were deep and severe. The loss of any social life outside of their rooms was more than many kids could handle.

It’s not downplaying the severity of the pandemic’s latest wave to acknowledge this, but it does mean we need to be clear on what our choices look like as kids return to school after their winter breaks.

Everyone understands the urge to be as safe as possible. We’re going to hit a million COVID deaths in the country sometime in the near future, and we all want to avoid the worst outcomes. But we’re also far enough along to know the harms some mitigation efforts can bring.

Closing schools falls into that category. We need to avoid that option at all costs.

Connecticut has done well in keeping schools open, but as Christmas break ends there has been sympathy for the idea of going remote. Omicron took over so quickly, and just before holiday get-togethers, that there’s justifiable fear of everyone bringing it back into the classroom as school resumes.

We’re not where we were a year ago. But we need to remember how bad it was — not just COVID, but the responses — to prevent a recurrence.

When the 2020-21 academic year began, there was hardly even school. The year began in a hybrid format, where students would be in person for two days a week and home for three, with half the students alternating days in person. That was interspersed with full-on quarantines, where everyone had to learn online.

It was, in short, a complete mess. No after-school activities, no extracurriculars, outside engagement strongly discouraged.

By the time the current academic year started, the third of the COVID era, matters were somewhat better. School was back, interrupted occasionally by outbreaks but for the most part fully in-person.

But while the pandemic situation may have improved, it’s of course not over. The latest variant has caused a wave of increased cases and hospitalizations, and forced people to yet again cancel or scale back holiday gatherings, as well as delaying return-to-work plans at companies that were finally looking for a semblance of normalcy.

Then there are schools. Having been used before, the remote option is available, so there appears to be some sympathy behind the idea of sending everyone home again until the worst is over.

It’s hard to overstate what a bad idea that would be.

When the last school year began, we were still months away from a vaccine. Even when one arrived, it took a long time to become widely available, and even longer until children were eligible (and even now, children under 5 are still waiting). But we also know now that children have been among the least at risk from serious outcomes. The bigger worry, then as now, was that they could catch it at school and spread it to more vulnerable family members, which justified the school shutdowns.

That fear hasn’t disappeared, but with vaccines it should be more manageable today than it was then. And we know the severe downsides of closing schools.

The anecdotes that surfaced of overwhelmed services aimed at dealing with childhood psychological problems are backed up by data. There isn’t the capacity we need to take care of all the children who need help, especially when that need is exacerbated by the isolation of closed schools. We can never act as though a return to remote schooling is an option without significant downsides.

We also can’t ignore the safety of teachers and other faculty. Staff shortages are a serious concern. Again, that’s why vaccines are so important and why Connecticut was right to mandate them for teachers, though the testing option should be eliminated.

Connecticut officials have recognized all this, and taken steps to keep schools open. This better serves children, as well as their parents, who are often unable to work if home-schooling is the only option. It’s one thing to leave high schoolers alone in front of a laptop, but it doesn’t work at the elementary age.

But it shouldn’t be the solution for anyone. The pandemic is far from over and precautions remain necessary. By far the best solution is to encourage vaccination, by mandate if necessary. Just do whatever is possible to keep the schools open.