School reopening begins after a rocky start as students and faculty test positive across the country

Monday was the first school day in some parts of the country, but an outbreak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is forcing the school to learn completely remotely.

It was a busy, hectic weekend for colleges across the country to bring students back to campus. And yet, if this was a test if students could follow mask and social distance requirements, it is clear many would fail.

“I mean, there are still parties going on. There are still people who don’t wear masks,” one UNC student told CBS News.

Videos showing UNC students partying without partying and ignoring social distance lead to a dumb editorial in the student newspaper. “We saw this all coming,” it said. “We’re angry – and we’m scared.”

Later on Monday, the university moved all of its undergraduate classes online after 130 students tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

And a warning about younger children returning to school: “We have certainly seen that there can be some more serious damage to the heart and in some of these rare cases,” said Dr Nicholas Rister, a specialist for infectious disease of children at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Nationally, more than 560 school districts start each year in person. New safety protocols within a high school in Wylie, Texas, include tables in the cafeteria with markers to remind students to keep their distance.

“I’m worried we’ll see an increase [in cases], especially in these populations, they simply do not cause an effective social distance in many cases, “said Rister. Teens and young adults can be difficult because you feel a little insensitive, the social pressure to fit in and do things. “

An Arizona school district that would open Monday had to cancel classes after nearly 100 teachers called in sick, with instructions on health care. Others also have suffering worries.

“I do not want my daughter to lose the station for school,” said Amber Bachmeier. “I don’t want her to want to learn anymore, and that’s what’s happening.”

The University of Notre Dame also reports a spike in coronavirus cases, with 58 confirmed since starting school earlier this month. In Fort Worth, the semester just began Monday on the Texas Christian University campus. Face masks are required for everyone, and so far the school reports only 14 confirmed cases involving a student or staff member.

Schools in Georgia were one of the first to reopen this summer, and already at least three districts are seeing major outbreaks. Some parents blamed the crisis on vague policies over the use of wearing protective face masks at school – which has led some districts to take matters into their own hands.

Jefferson City High School is typical of Georgia: masks are only recommended. Seniors hope Terhune and Rylee Meadows have perhaps half of the students one.

“Every day I think there are fewer and fewer children wearing masks,” Meadows told CBS News.

The two students began a petition to mandate masks. Roughly 2,000 people have already signed it.

“I just do not understand why everyone does not want to wear one to keep other people safe,” Terhune said.

In Cherokee County, Georgia, seniors at Etowah High School saw perfect smiles. Not one mask in the picture. At North Paulding High, where photos of children without masks are lamented in a hall went viral, 35 people tested positive.

But many parents oppose masks, one repeating false information at the meeting of the Paulding County School Board.

Georgia has become a COVID-19 hotspot, averaging more than 3,400 new cases a day. Only 43 of the state’s 181 school districts mandate masks for teachers and students.

State Representative Beth Moore launched REPORTMY SCHOOL, an e-mail account for whistleblowers where students and faculty can send information about unsafe conditions. Moore says the account has received more than 800 emails in 10 days, mostly from faculty.

“And they’re told if they don’t like it, they just have to keep the job,” Moore said.

Meadows and Terhune said many people were going to spread the virus.

“I feel it’s inevitable that it’s going to happen to our school,” Meadows said.

It did in Cherokee County. Through the first two weeks of school, more than 1,700 students and staff were quarantined. At least 120 people tested positive.

Mark Strassmann contributed reporting.