According to an article by reporter Melanie Asmar on the Chalkbeat Colorado website, the Denver Public Schools has once again changed its plan for the opening of the 2020-2021 school year.
The district asked its families how they felt about allowing students to participate in in-classroom instruction, and 75% of the parents who responded to the survey said they would prefer an in-person model rather than online “distance learning.” That survey closed on July 10, but district officials noted that the percentage favoring “in-class” instruction was declining during the final days of the survey period.
Those would be the days during which we learned that America had entered a more deadly phase of the “First Wave” of COVID-19 infections. The “more deadly” phase is illustrated by these John Hopkins University graphs.
Arizona, number of COVID deaths on July 18: 147. The Governor “re-opened” the state on May 15… and imposed new restrictions on June 29.
Texas, now averaging over 90 COVID deaths per day, compared to around 30 per day in May. Over 150 people were reported to have died this past Friday. The Governor ordered a “Phase III Re-opening” on June 3. New restrictions were put in place between June 25 and July 2.
Not all states have been hammered this way by the virus. Colorado had its worst day of reported fatalities on April 24, with 120 deaths. The weekly average since the beginning of July has remained around 4 reported deaths per day.
Three weeks ago, Denver Public Schools announced that it was planning to bring all students back into classrooms at the start of the school year. The plan now is to start the year with online classes from August 24 until at least September 8, and then see how things are going.
According to DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova, families will still have the option of choosing a totally remote model even if school buildings reopen, and said the district plans to release more details next week about what that online option would look like. The draft plan suggested the online option might be “centrally managed” — that is, it may not be specific to the student’s school.
From Melanie Asmar’s Chalkbeat article:
The previous plan to open school buildings was based in part on recommendations from the Denver Metro Partnership for Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics that said the emotional, psychological, and even physical risks to children were greater if they stayed home.
The American Academy of Pediatrics did indeed publish a lengthy advisory essay, stating in part:
Any school re-entry policies should consider the following key principles…
- …It is critically important to develop strategies that can be revised and adapted depending on the level of viral transmission in the school and throughout the community and done with close communication with state and/or local public health authorities and recognizing the differences between school districts, including urban, suburban, and rural districts…
- Special considerations and accommodations to account for the diversity of youth should be made, especially for our vulnerable populations, including those who are medically fragile, live in poverty, have developmental challenges, or have special health care needs or disabilities, with the goal of safe return to school.
- No child or adolescent should be excluded from school unless required in order to adhere to local public health mandates or because of unique medical needs. Pediatricians, families, and schools should partner together to collaboratively identify and develop accommodations, when needed.
- School policies should be guided by supporting the overall health and well-being of all children, adolescents, their families, and their communities…
With the above principles in mind, the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school…
The “guidance” touches on many aspects of modern school operations, including academics, social-emotional learning, physical exercise, school-provided meals, health education, social justice. It also addresses the problems that local schools will be dealing with, including testing, face coverings, physical distancing, sanitation, playground behaviors, and contact tracing.
Here’s an excerpt from a subsequent press release, signed by the AAP, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA) and AASA, the school superintendents association:
“Reopening schools in a way that maximizes safety, learning, and the well-being of children, teachers, and staff will clearly require substantial new investments in our schools and campuses. We call on Congress and the administration to provide the federal resources needed to ensure that inadequate funding does not stand in the way of safely educating and caring for children in our schools. Withholding funding from schools that do not open in person full-time would be a misguided approach, putting already financially strapped schools in an impossible position that would threaten the health of students and teachers.”
Is anyone actually advocating “withholding funding”?
Well, maybe so. Here’s an excerpt from a July 19 conversation with President Donald Trump, in a 40-minute interview with FOX News correspondent Chris Wallace (which you can view here on YouTube):
President Trump:
“I do say this. Schools have to open. Young people have to go to school. And there’s problems when you don’t go to school, too. And there’s going to be a funding problem, because we’re not going to fund — when they don’t open their schools, we’re not going to fund them. We’re not going to give them money if they’re not going to school. If they don’t open their school.”
Chris Wallace:
“Two points on that. First of all, what the federal gives is 8 percent [of a typical school budget] —”
President Trump:
“— It’s 10 percent. And you know what? That’s a lot of money.”
Chris Wallace:
“And you’re going to take… You know where the money goes? It goes overwhelmingly to disadvantaged kids, and children with disabilities. Why wouldn’t you send more money and let the schools —”
President Trump:
“Chris. Let the schools open. Did you ever see the statistics on young people, below the age of 18? The state of New Jersey had thousands of deaths. Of all of these thousands, one person below the age of 18, in the entire state. One person. And that was a person who had, I believe they said, diabetes. One person below the age of 18.”
And there we have an interesting dilemma. All the studies I’ve seen show a very low COVID mortality rate among school-age children.
If only schools consisted entirely of children… without any adults…
