The now prominent school reopening conversation was well overdue

But in the shift to talking about IF and HOW schools reopen, I feel like we’ve lost the plot (me included)

THE THING THAT MATTERS THE MOST FOR SCHOOL REOPENING IS CONTROLLING THE VIRUS

/1

A better fall remains possible

IN PLACES WITH LITTLE COMMUNITY SPREAD

We must make the painful tradeoffs (with fed $ to support) to maintain and reduce community transmission if we want to talk about schools

/2 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/better-fall-possible/613882/

We need standards for what low community spread means

Cuomo is the only governor I’m aware of that has put out specific thresholds

https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/1282708662134493185?s=20

Resources like these help

https://www.covidexitstrategy.org/ 

https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/

/3

Right now, in the U.S., we have low community spread in the Northeast.

In the NE, reopening schools is reasonable if:

/4

We keep community transmission low by pausing business reopen (w/ fed UI & stimulus), masks, phys. distance, testing & tracing

Schools get federal $ ASAP

We reopen schools carefully w/ remote option for teachers & students who need it

/5

In the rest of the country, especially in hotspots, reducing the spread of COVID19 can be the only priority

Reopening/keeping open ANYTHING not essential in these areas is unconscionable

Lock it down now!

Think NY circa March and April

/6

Reasonable plans for places that it is not safe to reopen schools?

Digital learning now & plan for careful reopening of school buildings later

Delay start of the school year & plan to extend

Have public criteria for reduced spread that must be met to open buildings

/7

(We should be thinking about extending the school year and extending time in school everywhere, to support learning needs of students given the emergency school closures, with federal $ to fund this)

/8

Public reopening criteria should be used to motivate public health adherence a la

/9 https://twitter.com/DanGordonDC/status/1282860962937217025?s=20

Schools need federal $ NOW, regardless of the date they physically reopen

They need $ to fill the gap left by diminished state coffers

They need $ for challenges of education amid a pandemic: meeting health & safety standards & add'l learning needs

/10 https://twitter.com/SarahCohodes/status/1283728968173195264?s=20

Have things changed, since I wrote my column?

The federal government continues to abdicate its responsibilities

As do some states

COVID has spread -- more locations in crisis

/11

A hopeful sign is that some states are rolling back reopening & mandating masks

A not hopeful sign is that we have yet not seen the widespread #schoolsbeforebars closures & masking & testing we would need to seriously stop spread across the country

/13 https://twitter.com/wgbh/status/1283575076902838272?s=20

We must implement/maintain the public health measures we know work:
closures (w/ fed $)
masks
testing

In the NE, this sustains our progress so we can reopen schools

In the rest of the country, this makes it possible to even discuss school reopening

#schoolsbeforebars

/end