School and Covid: masks, schedules, dining room and absences: the rules to return to class

3) Will we be able to use public transport?
Yes, as long as you wear a mask. The Scientific Technical Committee (CTS) has admitted the possibility of repealing the spacing by expanding the capacity of the vehicles up to 75% as long as the vehicles are equipped with certified air filters and (not better specified) fabric dividers.

4) Should I wear the mask?
The only sure thing is that children from 0 to 6 years old should not use it. For everyone else it is mandatory, but according to the latest indications, at least in elementary school, when you sit at the desk, if the distance meter is guaranteed, you can keep it lowered. For a final decision we must wait until August 31.

5) Should the backpack be disinfected?
The backpack should be stored near the desk but should not be disinfected at the entrance of the school.

6) Will there be double shifts?
Schools can take shifts of several hours to reduce the number of students present at the same time. Each director will decide how to proceed.

7) What time do you enter school?
It is always up to the manager to decide the time of entry and exit. The Scientific Technical Committee recommended delaying entry to secondary schools to reduce pressure on public transportation during peak hours. Primary and secondary schools should start between 7:45 and 9:00.

8) What will the canteen be like?
When possible, the canteen will take turns ensuring the necessary distance. Catering staff will only serve individual servings with disposable cutlery and accessories. If it is not possible to use the dining room, the children will receive a lunch box to eat sitting at the counter.

9) Will there be an interval?
Yes, but always in order to avoid crowds, I will have to take turns, so that the break is more often in class than outside. Always assuming that the schools, in search of space, have not occupied part of the corridors with their desks or have not installed tensioned structures in the courtyard to accommodate additional classrooms.

10) What happens if a teacher is missing?
According to current regulations, the teacher is not replaced until three days of illness. Either a colleague is available or the children are classified into other classes – an impractical hypothesis this year. The government is considering a change in the law, but it requires money and time.

11) Do you do distance learning?
In the absence of Covid cases, distance education is planned only in secondary school and only in addition to face-to-face teaching: a group of children in turn connects from home with the rest of the class so that the distance is always guaranteed. It may be enough that even a single infection determines the quarantine of the classroom and the return of digital education for everyone from elementary school onwards.

12) Who measures the students’ fever?
The CTS continues to insist that the temperature must be measured by the parents and not by the school, so that if it is higher than 37.5 the student does not leave the house. But several municipalities (Milan, Bologna and Rome) have decided to equip at least kindergartens and nursery schools with thermo-scanners, while Governor De Luca has announced that he wants to extend the measure to all schools in Campania.

13) What happens in case of contagion at school?
In case of suspicious symptoms, a security protocol is required: the person must be isolated in a special room and equipped with a mask. The school’s Covid contact will take care of this.

14) Who is going to pick up a student with a fever from school?
Only parents (or an adult delegated by them) can pick up a minor with symptoms. Once home, they will need to call the pediatrician for telephone triage. It is up to him to decide if he is a Covid suspect: in that case, he will request the swab.

15) What happens if there is an infected person?
If a student or teacher tests positive on the swab, the follow-up of their close contacts is immediately activated, that is, of all those with whom they have been together in the last 48 hours. It is up to the ASL to evaluate whether to quarantine the whole class or just part of it for two weeks.

16) In what cases could the school close?
A general lockdown is no longer foreseen. Forcing the closure of the school could be the presence of an outbreak in the institute or the decision to close the entire municipality in case of an abnormal increase in infections.

17) Do I need a medical certificate after five days of absence?
The advice from the CTS is to reinstate the requirement for a medical certificate for longer absences (the rule was canceled three years ago). But since a rule is needed to reintroduce it, it is not necessary for now. instead, it’s needed if you’ve been quarantined or swabbed for suspected Covid-19.

18) Will there be a doctor at school?
Not for now. Another of the CTS recommendations, but the preparation of this service in the eight thousand Italian schools takes time. For now, schools will have a reference point to ASL, to be consulted in case of doubts or emergencies.

19) Will students also be assessed?
In addition to serologic testing for teachers before the start of the school year, the July CTS document also provided for the selection of student samples during the year. But at the moment no more is known.

20) Will the afternoon activities start again?
The afternoon activities, with the distancing and the preventive measures provided by the protocols, can be resumed. Since they are run by cooperatives or associations independent of the schools, it will depend on the decisions of the individual organizations whether or not to resume.