Donald Trump is the one person you should not listen to in order to keep your children safe. Re-opening schools should not be a priority over public safety. The president and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said they want all schools to reopen full time in the fall. They do not offer ways to do that safely.
On Monday July 6, 2020, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran ordered Florida public schools to reopen in August. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that if Walmart, Lowe’s and Home Depot are open, then schools should be open as well. But neither the governor, nor the White House, can force school districts to open in Florida, which has just set another record of 11,433 new COVID-19 cases in a single day this Friday July 10, 2020.
DeSantis and Corcoran both conceded last month that county school boards would have the final say about when and how to reopen their campuses. The state constitution, empowers school boards, not the state education commissioner, to “operate, control and supervise” public schools.
Vice President Mike Pence said, “The president said today that we don’t want the guidance to be too tough.” So, next week, the CDC will issue weaker and less specific and less costly guidance to keep students safe during a pandemic. The president threatened to cut off funding to schools if they do not open, but the federal government only funds a small portion of school budgets. States fund the bulk of school budgets.
States that opened too soon including Florida, have already ignored CDC guidelines on how to re-open safely. They are knee deep in a huge spike in infections with no plans in place to slow the spread of the disease. Up until now parents have been able to protecting their children by keeping them at home. No one knows how the virus presents in children, or how children might transmit the virus to older adults.
To date, two 11 year old children have died from the virus in Florida. 44 Florida Intensive Care Units are at full capacity. Florida State’s lead epidemiologist, Scott Pritchard, who had held his position for 15 years, quit on the day that DeSantis announced the state would open K-12 schools at full capacity. Clearly the scientists disagree with the mindless politics of rushing to open schools in the midst of the pandemic.
Florida teachers are warning that re-opening schools at the height of the pandemic could be deadly. “We’ve been given no guidance. We’ve been given no regulations that make sense to reopen our schools, and in the middle of a pandemic, we’re being told we have to reopen schools come hell or high water,” said Fedrick Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association told CNN Tuesday night.
At least one superintendent has said he will let “local conditions at the time” dictate whether schools open. Six associations representing teachers and parents – including the National Parent Teacher Association and the American Federation of Teachers – have criticized the President’s push to reopen schools. One of the teachers that will soon have to go back is Tracy Merlin, who teaches elementary school students and says it’s nearly impossible for instructors to guarantee their students’ safety under the current circumstances. On social media, teachers were posting, “Where can I get a living will?”
Lily Eskelsen Garcia, the president of the National Education Association, said she previously taught nearly 40 middle schoolers in a “tiny little classroom with one window. That was not healthy before the pandemic,” she said. “My classroom was a germ factory. I knew that I was going to catch someone’s cold every year. This is different. This is a virus that kills people.”
Dr. Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases advised superintendents to use the CDC guidelines as a guide to get students back to school safely. Physical distancing, masks, and hand washing could help keep the level of infection in the community down. Schools can consider modifying the school schedule with alternate days, morning versus evening, allowing online virtual lessons.
The above illustration was done as a virtual online demonstration for my Elite Animation Academy students about how to illustrate contemporary news. While instructing students on how to research, I found images of a Japanese teacher who had students create their own wings which promote social distancing. I also found research showing robots and automatons in front of students. Perhaps this is the only sane solution for the rush to crush students into crowded classrooms.
Orange County Florida Public Schools, will offer a three-pronged plan including face-to-face instruction, virtual schooling and innovative learning.