A simple explainer for getting kids back in school
The current dilemma over getting kids back in schools really doesn’t seem to be as complicated as people are making it.
The scientific community has essentially arrived at a consensus on three key issues.
First, if the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the surrounding community, students and staff become more likely to contract it in their daily lives. That means it is more likely people will carry it with them to school, so the risk of exposure at school increases under those conditions.
Second, the same precautionary steps that people are taking now to prevent the spread of the coronavirus – wearing masks, maintaining appropriate physical distance, ensuring buildings have proper ventilation, etc. – apply in school settings.
Third, if schools are taking proper precautions, the chances they will boost the rate of the virus’ spread in a community are very low. In other words, there is nothing special about schools that would make them superspreading sites.
Assuming those to be true, what needs to be done to open schools and keep them open?
Suppress the spread of the virus in surrounding communities to acceptable levels.
Promote adherence at school to the standard mitigation measures.
The first item requires participation from surrounding communities. Take Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia, for example, where students have been doing virtual learning since March. A movement appears to be building to blame teachers for the situation, but Fairfax County currently sits well outside the upper bounds of the CDC’s highest risk levels for transmission in schools.
Responsibility for the second item falls on governments and school systems to: 1.) provide the resources for mitigation measures; and 2.) implement them effectively. Note that the study from Wisconsin now being cited as evidence that schools can open safely involved third-party funding for mitigation. The participating schools also reported rigorous compliance with safety measures.
Clearly there are details that have to be worked out based on facts on the ground in each community. But if you want to make sure kids stay in school this year, organize your efforts around stopping the spread of the virus locally and getting schools the resources they need.
