We have a plan to return to schools in the fall, and that’s a very good thing. I am greatly encouraged by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Safe Schools Return to School Roadmap that provides the right balance of protecting public health and permitting the continuation of in-person education for our children in our schools.
In a pandemic, humans focus intently on health and predictability. What we desire most in a pandemic is what we have least.
To be sure, we focus on health and routine outside of pandemics, but a worldwide health crisis points out how important our health and that of others are to us.
Through July 8, more than 12 million people had tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 550,000 dying of the virus. In the United States, more than 3 million had tested positive, with more than 132,000 deaths. In Michigan, more than 67,000 had tested positive, with more than 6,000 deaths.
We are in the midst of a worldwide public health crisis. At the same time, we have to educate our children. The return to school roadmap provides us a framework to meet both public health and education challenges.
Anyone who thinks that the pandemic is over is not analyzing the numbers. It is true that far fewer children are dying than are seniors, but there are more dying in both groups than under normal conditions. Moreover, in the absence of our mitigation efforts, including additional cleaning, additional hand washing, and the wearing of masks, adults who work in schools – and particularly older adults with certain pre-existing conditions – are at risk, as are similarly situated parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
Let me say it differently: to ignore the virus in school is to put our educators, support staff members, and our children’s older relatives at great risk. We can’t afford to do that. The more we dismiss the pandemic at the beginning of the school year, the shorter the in-person school year becomes for kids … and the more we put vulnerable lives at risk.
Under the plan, in phases 1-3 of the pandemic, when new daily cases and deaths are substantial, health system capacity is strained, and testing and tracing efforts may not be sufficient to control the virus’s spread, in-person instruction in schools will cease, and districts will implement their remote learning efforts.
In phase 4, when new daily cases and deaths are fewer yet still significant, but we have sufficient capacity within our health system and for testing and tracing, we will be able to educate children in schools, with substantial safety requirements. These requirements will include, but not be limited to: face coverings for teachers; face coverings for students and staff on buses and in common areas of schools; and face coverings for students in grades 6-12 in classrooms. The plan for phase 4 also includes recommendations for consideration by our 831 local school districts, each of which has unique characteristics that benefit from the flexibility in the plan.
In phase 5, when new daily cases and deaths are far fewer, and there is the ability to investigate, trace, and contain quickly new cases, we will be able to educate children in schools with fewer limitations.
The roadmap is a thoughtful set of parameters under which we can return safely and realistically to school in the fall. If we follow our health protocols, both inside school and out, we have the opportunity to stay in school longer next school year than if we assume that the pandemic has run its course. It hasn’t.
The better we do with the plan, the longer we will be able to have in-person instruction this year. The less attentive we are to strategies to prevent the spread of the virus, the more we will shorten our children’s in-person school year. It’s that simple.
As our staff members in 831 districts across the state prepare for the beginning of the school year, Michigan schools and those across the country need additional help. Congress needs to approve quickly additional federal aid so that children’s education is not harmed in a pandemic. This additional federal aid needs to include not simply funding to make up for diminished state revenue in the pandemic, but also funding to address personal protection equipment (PPE) and catch-up learning in the pandemic.
If Congress provides additional support so that we don’t have to reduce education staffing and services in the pandemic and if we abide by those health and safety protocols required in the roadmap, we can maximize our children’s educational experiences in the coming school year and minimize the adverse impact of the virus. There’s no perfect in a pandemic, but we still have the opportunity to protect, nurture, and educate our children and, at the same time, the ability to protect our older citizens as well. Let’s do it.