As schools in the United States reopen and children who attend school test positive for the coronavirus, students safely return to school remain at the forefront of many people’s minds.
“However, because so many school districts have budget constraints, schools need to evaluate their options and identify measures that are particularly important and possible for their communities,” said authors of the Department of General Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine in a commentary. Tuesday at JAMA Pediatrics.
The authors made a number of suggestions on how the AAP guidelines can be used in schools to make repatriation as safe as possible.
School districts, experts suggest, should create Covid-19 task forces composed of key stakeholders, including superintendents and parents, to develop procedures and policies for safety.
The authors are entitled to physical distance, personal protective equipment and fixed cohorts of students and lecturers – all of which are covered in the AAP guidelines.
“The AAP guidance highlights the importance of identifying symptoms and signs regarding Covid-19, but does not discuss in-depth operational approach,” the authors said. The AAP guidelines also do not include an approach to testing, they said.
The authors recommend a three-pronged testing approach, performed in collaboration with local hospitals.
First, all students with symptoms should be tested. Second, schools must conduct random staff and student tests to identify asymptomatic patients. Third, students from high-risk households should be offered more frequent testing.
The authors also discussed the need for schools to be continuously flexible, with plans in place for virtual learning and the potential need for additional nurses, psychologists and social workers in schools.
“In summary, in order to maximize health and educational outcomes, school districts should adopt some or all of the AAP guidance measures and prioritize them according to Covid-19 local incidents, stakeholder input and budget constraints,” the de authors.
Another option for reopening schools is virtual learning – something that comes with its own considerations, according to authors from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine and the Research Center for Educational Technology at Kent State University, which separate commentary published by JAMA Pediatrics on Tuesday.
Online learning is not new
While Covid-19 allowed many American students and educators to be introduced to virtual learning unexpectedly, it has been around since the mid-1990s, according to the authors.
“While more than one billion children worldwide have recently experienced this pandemic-related abrupt transition to online education, at least 2% of U.S. students and many more worldwide have already participated in online K-12 instruction online as virtual schools,” they said. by authors.
Like personal learning, virtual learning also comes with many options, including for-profit, charter and public options – something parents need to consider and explore when looking at virtual learning.
It does not work for all students or all families, the authors noted. Factors such as access to the Internet can cause “significant variation” in student success. However, research has suggested that virtual learning may be beneficial for students with special health care needs.
Otherwise, one should consider the characteristics of their children and understand the virtual school options available to them, the authors noted.
“The pandemic has encouraged many parents to explore educational alternatives, particularly for students who may have health concerns, such as those with respiratory disease or who are immunocompromised,” the authors said. “With social distance emerging obstacles to traditional education, K-12 online learning can become more mainstream.”
CNN’s Jen Christensen, Lauren Mascarenhas, Christina Maxouris and Sandee LaMotte contributed to this story.
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