My outstanding questions & concerns on the @PHLschools re-opening (w/ respect to all of those who worked diligently to put it together). Also, my concerns are generally for all school reopening, I just happen to be sending my kid to a #Philly School District school in the fall)

1) They are planing for when covid impact schools not if. They do expect cases of covid in the schools. Saying it out loud doesn't make it ok.

2) They are not requiring #covid19 testing prior to students and staff returning to school. Which means you are starting out with a potential for an outbreak from day 1. Ppl can be asymptotic and still spread it. Screening on the honor system unreliable.

3)The hybrid plan: same group of kids together M/W and T/Th with everyone virtual on Fridays. From an outbreak perspective wouldnt it make more sense to have the same kids together for one continuous 4-day period so you arent constantly bringing them in and sending them home.

Or, as a friend mentioned, wouldnt it make more sense to have the same kids go M/T, clean on W, then have the second group of kids go TH/F group?

4) There are no details on how buses will accommodate all of the students who take the bus to & frm school while social distancing

5) The schools will provide masks to students and teachers (except 6-12 teachers?). Why not 6-12 teachers? What is the plan when students refuse to wear them? When they get lost or soiled? When they run out?

6) No mention of the potential that this is airborne.

7) For schools that can't maintain 6ft social distancing, schools are being asked to prioritize plexiglass barriers. Why are they allowing less than 6ft social distancing?

8) Families are required to conduct their own daily screenings: temp check, monitoring for symptoms, & recent exposure to someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Screening on the honor system unreliable. No one mentioned flu season and its similar symptoms. What do parent do if unsure?

9) Strict hand hygiene when they get to school, before and after eating, touching masks etc - how much time is that all going to take? Who is overseeing all of that? What if there is not enough sinks/soap etc. to accommodate?

10) What about ventilation systems in older schools, schools with windows that do not open, schools with little outdoor space?

11) Students will be allowed to take “mask breaks” during
mealtimes, and when outdoors and more than six feet apart from other people. Meal time sounds like a potential super-spreader event to me.

12) All individuals who are sick are expected to stay home, and any student, staff member, or visitor who becomes sick while in a school building will be sent home immediately. What if the student can't be sent home immediately? What if the teacher needs to be sent home?

13) A lot of uncertainties about the spread of covid from children to adults and between each other - we are only 5 months into this pandemic, there is too much we don't know.

14) With the greatest of respect to teachers, Im more than a little skeptical that they will be able to have all of the students following these rules - have you met kids? Not to mention the stress these teachers are going to be under trying to enforce all this while teaching...

15) Where is the extra funding and resources coming frm for every school in the district? More teachers, nurses, custodians, support staff, cleaning supplies, buses, PPE etc.?

16) All of my questions from the recent @PhillyInquirer OP-Ed still apply also. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/philadelphia-pa-school-reopening-plan-coronavirus-covid-20200713.html

From a friend - for those in the back: Teachers are not responsible for the recovery of the economy, babysitting children, or "getting us back to normal".