The Urgency and Challenge of Opening K-12 Schools in the Fall of 2020
The sudden closure of kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) schools nationwide this spring likely helped to avert a medical catastrophe from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This decisive step, however, is casting a long shadow.
More than 20 million children rely on school breakfast or lunch; surveys now indicate that 1 in 5 mothers with children younger than 12 years old report that their children are going hungry. Millions of children have lost access to health services through school-based health centers. There are major divides by race/ethnicity, geography, and economic class in access to home computers and high-speed internet.
When prolonged school closures are combined with summer break, some children may to fall behind normal academic growth by as much as a year.In addition, school officials typically make about 1 in 5 reports regarding child abuse and neglect without involvement of school-based counselors, these concerns may not be investigated.
Reopening schools this fall is an urgent priority.
To achieve this goal and reduce the chances that schools close again, school makers should plan carefully:
1. Prevent a new virus out-break. The best way to avoid a replay of the widespread closures is to control the pandemic before and then in school.
2. Create more space in the classroom, keeping groups of children together throughout the day to limit mixing, stag-gering drop-offs and pick-ups, change transportation such as on buses, and cancel-ing close-contact activities. Staff and older students should wear face coverings.
3. Make on-site education a high priority for youth who experience barriers to remote learning.
4. Screen children quickly on arrival, make hand washing and other supplies readily available, and adopt schedules for cleaning high-touch areas and disinfecting classrooms.
The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a short-term threat to the nation’s health. Through its effects on children, the legacy of COVID-19 will last for years.