6 Areas that Need Addressed to Safely Open Schools in the Fall

Schools across the country have been closed for the year.  With that in mind, districts across the nation need to begin to develop a plan for safely reopening in the fall.  With the closures, Americans are being reminded just how important the reopening of schools are. At school, students connect with their peers and teachers, they channel their creativity and use their brains to solve problems, and they learn essential knowledge needed for their development.  Schools also help parents with the ability to work and have a little room to breathe.  Sending our kids to school each morning is such a natural and normal part of our routine, but due to COVID-19 that has all been disrupted. So what is it going to take to safely re-open schools once public health professionals say that it’s safe to do so?

According to edweek.org, and with the help of educational leaders that include state chiefs, superintendents and other school leaders, they have developed a blueprint that is intended to help officials, educators and communities plan for the challenge of opening schools again in the fall.

The developed the blueprint, which can be viewed here, was constructed by drawing conclusions from guidelines put in place by public health officials.  Although reading the blueprint is suggested for the particulars, the six key areas that need addressed can be observed below.

Attention to General Considerations

General considerations such as communication, flexibility, coordination and privacy protection will be critical.  A plan that addresses academics, public health and remote learning privacy policies should be developed. Schools cannot do this alone. They must work with state and local governments to develop a plan and then effectively communicate it to students, families, educators and the community are clear on the expectations for the coming school year. 

Adjusting School Operations

Everything from classroom space, schedules, lunch times, lunch distribution, transportation and much more needs to be planned for. All of these areas and more need to be addressed so that they follow new public health guidelines including physical distancing.

Supporting the Students

The pandemic is affecting students in more ways than just the way in which they’re learning.  In addition to adjusting to a new way of learning, some students are also dealing with family or friends lost to the virus or the effect of a parent’s job loss.  This is a very difficult time for students, many of which may struggle with how to process these changes.  Having a way for students to receive support, whether in-school or in a remote-learning setting during the pandemic will be another critical part of the plan to reopen schools.

Protecting School Personnel

How to protect school staff, such as the teachers, is another important aspect of the blueprint that is critical.  Districts and teachers’ unions need to work together to adapt protocols that will help teachers work in a safe and productive environment.

Plan for Intermittent Closures

The interrupted school year has created challenges for students.  The speed of the intended course of lesson plans has changed, and the ease of access to their lessons are just a couple of things that have likely changed leaving some students behind.  This is especially true for students who were already vulnerable before the interruption. If we plan ahead for potential closures, ways to combat the challenges caused by these interruptions can be developed.

Prepare for Distance Learning

Without warning, schools were forced to shift to remote learning situations.  For some students, this posed serious challenges if they were unable to connect to the online resources available to them. With the natural end of this school year coming to a close, schools have a few months to assess what worked and what didn’t.  This will help them develop a remote-learning plan that addresses obstacles identified by their analysis. It will also allow schools to provide training to teachers to make sure any planned remote-learning that occurs runs smoothly.

When public health officials say that it is ok, schools must be prepared to safely allow that to happen. That planning must start now. 

Story via Education Week