This reshaping of the traditional school day has become a reality in the last two weeks, as schools in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Indiana opened their doors for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck abruptly in the United States – all the while the virus remains largely uncontrolled.
Here is what we learned from the schools that have already reopened, as most American schools are preparing for their own first day of classes.
Several clusters of coronavirus cases developed in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi schools within days of starting classes.
While most of the nation’s school systems plan to start the school year fully online, some educators welcome students back to campus full-time or at least part-time.
“We could have just opened up like a lot of other schools,” the student, Hannah Watters, told CNN last week. “They sent our species to school and used us as guinea pigs to see what would happen later.”
The high school closed for cleaning after six students and three staff members tested positive for Covid-19. As of Wednesday, at least 35 cases had been reported.
School districts in several states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma, are quarantining students, teachers and staff members following reports of at least 230 cases of Covid-19 linked to their institutions, according to a CNN census.
Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s director of health, said earlier this week that at least 22 schools in the state have reported Covid-19 cases among students and staff members since classes began.
Some schools were forced to change plans
Fears of coronavirus infection among tens of thousands of students and faculty in multiple states is pressuring officials to switch to a full or a partial schedule of online classes.
Students at North Paulding High School will take turns on campus Monday. Students took a week-long lesson on campus before going into full virtual learning this week.
Despite the change, school officials said they intend to return to full instruction as soon as possible.
Two other high schools in Georgia – Woodstock High School and Etowah High School – are temporarily moving to distance learning after 14 cases of Covid-19 in each school were confirmed and 15 people awaited test results, according to the Cherokee County School District.
More than 1,100 students, teachers and staff members at more than a dozen Cherokee County public schools have been placed in two-week quarantines, the school district said.
“We do not doubt quarantine students and staff who have had possible exposure – even if the positive test was affected by possible exposure instead of symptoms, because all positive cases can lead to the infection of others,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said in a letter to parents on Tuesday.
The other schools are asked to use social distance and use masks.
“As your Superintendent, I wear a mask when I can not social distance. We know that all parents do not believe that the scientific research that indicates that masks are beneficial, but I believe it and see masks as an important measure to help us to keep schools open, ”Hightower said.
Other schools are pushing the start of school again
Deciding when and how to open schools has been a daunting task, and some officials have opted to delay the start of the school year.
On Wednesday, Gova of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo announced that she was delaying the planned start of the school year for another two weeks until September 14, as educators need more time to prepare for classes.
Schools have not finalized their social distancing guidelines for buses and classrooms, and they have not received enough personal protective equipment (PPE), Raimondo said.
Raimondo said the situation at Georgia schools, including photos posted online showing students not wearing masks, was a “cautious story” for them.
“That’s not Rhode Island. We’re in a much better place in Rhode Island,” she said during a briefing on coronavirus on Wednesday.. “I see those pictures and that’s a cautious story for me. That’s something we will not do. We will not open schools until they are safe.”
Delays in opening Rhode Island schools are no exception. At least 27 of the country’s 101 largest school districts decided to delay their first week of classes, according to a CNN analysis.
The delays in small and large districts have been affected by the lack of preparation, the continuing impact of the virus and what other schools are experiencing, school officials said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asks schools to wait until the end of September to start personal classes. Beshear says he made the decision after seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, families traveled to hot spot states for vacation and saw reports of students in Georgia and Tennessee being asked for quarantine within days of starting of school.
“What we do know is that children have a harder time socializing. And we currently cannot place a whole bunch of them in a classroom with a teacher,” Beshear said in a briefing earlier this week. “Other states that have tried to open this new school year must close now. We do not want to start and stop. That could be more difficult for our children.”
Re-opening schools remains a politically charged issue
The debate over personal schooling remains at the forefront of the national crisis in coronavirus, fueling tensions between state and local officials.
In Florida, Hillsborough Public Schools last week revised their original plans and decided to offer only virtual classes, by dismissing state orders.
“The Hillsborough County School Board must follow the law – it’s that simple,” Richard Corcoran, Florida’s education commissioner, told CNN in a statement this week. “These are urgent circumstances and we cannot and will not ignore them.”
After talks with state officials, the school district plans to begin virtual learning on Aug. 24 and “transition to brick-and-mortar a week later for those who want to return on Aug. 31,” the district said in a statement released Thursday.
Taryn Fenske, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education, told CNN on Thursday that the agency was “happy” to see the school district “working hard” to ensure families could make a choice.
“The important principle we have said over and over again has been to give real choice and flexibility to families and students to take care of the needs of all students, and we are glad they are achieving that,” Fenske said in a statement to CNN .
Some school districts in central Iowa, including the Des Moines Public Schools, also reject the guidance of their state because it does not fully support virtual learning.
Reynolds said this week that officials are in talks with several suburban Des Moines school districts to “get them in compliance” after educators said they were concerned that the pandemic could drive them to full online learning later.
The governor said in a briefing on Tuesday that they want to discuss the state’s mitigation efforts with those districts because “every expert” has said “we need to get our children back to school for a good reason.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Stuart, Pamela Kirkland, Melissa Alonso, Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Laurie Ure contributed to this report.
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