Can Schools Really Reopen Safely?

Asian countries are trying a variety of approaches as schools there reopen. In China, students get temperature checks before they can enter school buildings, and cafeteria tables are outfitted with plastic dividers, the New York Times reported.

In Sydney, Australia, schools are opening in staggered stages, holding classes one day a week for a quarter of the students from each grade. Hong Kong and Japan are trying similar phased reopenings, the Times reported. In Taiwan, classes have met since late February, but no assemblies are being held and students are ordered to wear masks.

In Germany, which will allow all students back in coming weeks, class sizes have been cut in half. Hallways have become one-way routes. Breaks are staggered. Teachers wear masks and students are told to dress warmly because windows and doors are kept open for air circulation, the Times reported.

“It’s really critical that [American] schools have a strong plan, not just for reopening now, but for what future school closures would look like,” Beers said.

Eskelsen Garcia said that teachers need to be part of the planning and, so far, she hasn’t seen teachers included on reopening committees that have politicians and business leaders. “Let us be part of the design for a healthy school opening. There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” she said.

One enormous concern when it comes to schools reopening is cost, Eskelsen Garcia pointed out.

She said school budgets are typically very tight. Ideally, schools would be able to hire extra cleaning staff, teachers and teachers’ assistants to ensure safe reopening. But state and local budgets have already been decimated by the pandemic.

“Tax revenue is going to decrease dramatically. Not only will we not have money to reduce class sizes, we may have huge layoffs,” Eskelsen Garcia said.

The NEA just asked Congress for $175 billion for America’s schools, she added.

“Kids will have faced months of fear and uncertainty and lived through trauma, but school nurses and school psychologists will likely be laid off,” Eskelsen Garcia said. “And we need more custodians to disinfect schools and they need training on disinfecting for coronavirus. If we don’t have what we need this time, someone could actually die,” she said.