What we do know is that the Trump administration, which is focused on protecting the statues, is unlikely to be very helpful.
When will school start? Where could it be? It is a month after many children start school and some of the larger school districts do not have a plan. They don’t even have a start date. If they have a start date, like in Los Angeles, it’s unclear if the kids will be on campus.
It is a total crisis of society. Children really can’t learn this way. And parents can’t work this way.
And if parents are attending remote learning all day, or even a few days each week, they are not working. The reality is that a big part of what school does for society is childcare.
Distance learning can be better than nothing. You might even miss it if you’re trying to deal with this summer’s camp and activity and your kids have found a way to play Fortnite or watch Netflix for an unpleasant number of hours each day until you lose them, wildly, in the neighborhood so you can do your own work for a few hours.
No, distance learning is not the ultimate answer.
The resurgence has worsened an already cloudy situation. Even where schools are making plans to reopen, it is not even clear if they will be able to stay that way, as many states have stalled or reversed their plans to reopen. Schools must have plans for remote learning and plans for in-person learning and be ready to pivot if their states become critical points again.
This is already complicating plans in Arizona and California.
The statement also says there is evidence that the past six months have harmed children and put them at increased risk for morbidity and mortality:
“Policies to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 within schools must be balanced against known harm to children, adolescents, families and the community by keeping children at home.”
Covid will remain a concern. Meanwhile, teacher unions and parents will focus on keeping themselves and their individual children safe from Covid.
Sterile classrooms? Say ah. CNN’s Evan McMorris-Santoro recently wrote about a New York school district and described how they are still evaluating a variety of plans.
Going to a school building in New York these days is a slow process. Visitors are required to monitor their temperature and are asked a series of questions about any possible symptoms related to Covid-19 before they are allowed to enter. Once there, they are closely monitored by staff who enter recently vacated rooms to disinfect everything inside.
As with many locations across the country, there is no official start date for the 2020-2021 school year and the weather is ticking in the summer.
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