In July, during the midst of the nation’s grueling battle with the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump advised leaders around the country to reopen schools by August. This decision has come under heavy criticism. “We can’t turn schools into yet another political football in this game. It’s not fair for our children,” Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s Emergencies Chief warned. "It feels as if we are playing Russian Roulette with our kids and staff," added Robin Cogan, a school nurse in New Jersey. Despite heavy opposition, some officials praised the decision. For instance, Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti argued: “COVID-19 is not going away. Many of our children need face-to-face, direct engagement.”
Plano ISD’s Tentative Ruling
Nevertheless, the Plano Independent School District recently announced plans to continue with its reopening procedures. Plano ISD has made the decision to begin the school year virtually, but after September 9th, students will have the option to choose either a face-to-face or a remote learning environment. According to preliminary statistics, most parents are actually in favor of sending their children back to the physical classroom, for only 28% of students in the district are enrolled in the school-at-home option.
PISD’s 2020 School Year Health Guidelines
Plano ISD has released a 41 page safety plan for the students and teachers who are physically returning to school come September. Here are some important takeaways.
Staff will be required to complete a self-screening process prior to entering a Plano ISD building. On the other hand, a parent or guardian will be required to screen their children each day prior to sending them to school. Additional screening may be conducted during the day by the school.
Students and staff are expected to wear face coverings during school hours. Students in Pre-K to the 2nd Grade must wear masks in hallways and common areas. Students in the 3rd Grade to the 12th Grade must wear masks at all times, except during lunch.
Frequent disinfection and hand sanitization will take place. These items will be found in common areas around the campus.
There will be supervision in regards to the usage of restrooms. Staff will limit the number of students occupying the restroom at one time, and there will be a scheduling of class-wide restroom breaks to prevent co-mingling of students from different classrooms.
Different entrances will be used during arrival. Students will go straight to designated areas set by the campus durival arrival.
Different entrances will be used during dismissal, as well. Campuses will schedule staggered dismissals.
During lunch, students will not be required to wear masks when eating, but will be seated 6 feet apart.
The complete document published by PISD can be found here.
Are the Precautions Enough?
Even with all the long-awaited precautions being announced by the district, there are still inevitable hazards when heading back in September. In Collin County, we are witnessing another uptick in cases, following the reopening of numerous public spaces by Governor Greg Abbott. Even though Texas recently posted its single highest seven-day average of new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, Abbott commenced the final phase of the state’s reopening plan, allowing religious services, youth camps, and personal care services to open at full capacity.
But attending school is completely different from just visiting a restaurant. Dean Hart, a Professor at Columbia University, contends that “reopening schools would spread the virus at an uncontrollable rate simply because of shared classrooms, common areas, and surfaces.” So education leaders have decided on a standard agreed upon by epidemiologists - to control the community spread of the coronavirus, the daily infection rate among those tested should not exceed 5%. In DFW, that number was well over 15%.
Hence, when it comes to PISD’s plans, there are several areas of concern. For instance, the district isn’t certain as to whether they will be screening students and teachers on campus. The memo reads: “Parents will need to take their child’s temperature daily. Additional screening may be conducted during the school day.” Unfortunately, self-screening is simply not enforceable. Moreover, it’s been proven to not be an effective method of diagnosis. According to data collected by the World Health Organization, up to 80% of the infected are asymptomatic, meaning that temperature screenings alone would not be conclusive. Furthermore, some of the policies are idealistic at best. Having class-wide restroom breaks is horribly inefficient, and might just increase the chance of close-contact.
In the time it took to read this article, 7 Texans contracted the virus for the first time. By the end of the day, that number will be more than 10,000. We all know that opting to attend school in-person comes with its risks. But, in the meantime, we are left wondering if Plano ISD’s propositions are sufficient, or even practical. It is up to school districts all around the country to make the proper, educated decisions to guarantee the safety of our teachers and children. It is because the leadership of Plano ISD is tasked with such a complex, monumetal decision, that they must look at the possible options from all angles. Let’s not look back at this time in history and have regret in our hearts.
Written By: Kyle Letterer & Gabriel Bo
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