School Districts Have Been Smart By Going Slow on Return to School
Itās unlikely thereās a single parent, teacher or school administrator that doesnāt want children back in school for live, in-person instruction five full days a week.
The question has always been, as this school year has progressed from the late summer low infection rates to the frightening spikes of November to January, how safely can it be done?
In recent weeks an increasing swell of frustration among parents in many districts throughout Westchester and Putnam has surfaced after seeing their children languish alone in front of a computer at home for days on end. Itās understandable. Even for those children who arenāt falling behind academically ā and plenty are ā the lack of socialization and interaction with peers is likely to hurt many of this generationās elementary school-age children.
But weāre not just talking about the safety of the students. Children and teenagers, while certainly not completely unscathed during this pandemic, have had vastly better outcomes if they should test positive for COVID-19.
Itās also the teachers and staff members who have a greater chance of comorbidities simply by virtue of being older than the children. Unfortunately, itās unclear whether the level of risk for educators who regularly interact with students increases by being in a full school building. But thatās the point, as much as the medical community has learned during the past year, there is so much that is still unknown.
And itās also about every family that has immunocompromised relatives or a multigenerational arrangement that could have a grandparent living under the same roof.
Many districts that donāt have the space have been prudently cautious about pushing for too much attendance too quickly.
As a result, while schools have a responsibility to educate, in a pandemic they also have a responsibility to keep their student and families, staff and community safe.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martinās archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/