COVID-19 & SCHOOLS REOPENING: UNCERTAINTY PERSISTS

In the past couple of weeks, it has been repeatedly communicated by the US President and his administration including the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that American schools must open fully and safely in the new academic year (September 2020). While opening ‘fully’ implies schools must allow all students who wish to attend classes in-person to be able to come to school physically, five full days a week, ‘Safely’ means the school will be compliant with the CDC guidance on the subject prior to reopening.

The US administration’s urging on returning children to schools sounds good as it is aimed at better learning and nourishing students socially, mentally and nutritionally. However, there has been sharp pushback on full school reopenings from Governors, Mayors and teachers unions on several counts.

Some stakeholders view the ‘five full days a week in-person’ attendance an unnecessary risk for the children and staff. The New York governor termed the Administration’s demand on reopening, “reckless and negligent.” Further, the full compliance with the CDC guidance on safe school reopening appeared resource and time consuming.

Battle lines seem drawn with the Administration viewing “reopening schools safely may be the single most important thing that we can do to support families during this pandemic." President Trump quite characteristically has even threatened to cut funding for those that don't comply.

CDC Guidance

The CDC guidance recommends:

·        Six feet of physical distance between students, staggered pick-up and drop-off times, increased cleaning and disinfection, ventilation, facial coverings and other safety measures that are applicable given the current information about the nature and transmission of the corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19.

·        Plastic shielding in places where six feet of distance is not practical. Schools at "highest risk" are those that entertain full capacity, in-person classes with students not adequately spaced apart.

·        In areas with substantial community transmission of the SARS-CoV-2, schools should coordinate with local public health officials and consider lockdown (break) of 14 days.

It is expected that resource and time constraints may drive schools to explore hybrid approaches to learning or rely on just distance learning for the initial period or simply delay the reopening by a few weeks as they would have to content with increased risks if they do not satisfactorily comply with the CDC guidance.

The Administration created another spot of controversy when it appeared to have communicated that the total compliance with the CDC guidance should not in any way hold the schools back from reopening ‘fully’ by due date. Trump called the CDC guidance “very tough and expensive and very impractical.”

Another subject being discussed in the school reopening debate is the science of COVID-19 in schools and if children are at far lower risk of serious or lethal infection than adults.

Science on the Issue

Uncertainties remain around the science of COVID-19 in schools. The conclusion from current available data that children are at far lower risk of serious or lethal infection than adults, is being contested. However it is certain that:

• Children can become infected with SARS-CoV-2, at all ages.
• Some of the infected children are symptomatic, but a large number are asymptomatic. And in the case of asymptomatic children, their “disease course” tends to be milder than in adults.
• A small percentage of children have died and others needed intensive care because they suffered respiratory failure or an inflammatory syndrome[1].

We also don’t have a clear scientific understanding as yet of the rate at which kids will spread infection to one another in a school setting or how frequently they will spread COVID-19 to other adults at school or at home. Further, as asymptomatic children are less likely to be tested, there is less data available.

 Bottom-line, it is unlikely there will be clarity on these issues in the near future and consequently, just how safe schools would be for children, teachers, and communities.

In a development related to the issue, a committee of scientists and educators from the prestigious National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine has recommended that, wherever possible, younger children (Grades K-5) and those with special needs should attend school in person.[2] In grades K-3, children are still developing the skills to regulate their own behaviour, emotions, and attention, and therefore struggle with distance learning.[3]

The committee concluded that online learning is ineffective for most elementary-school and special-needs children. Therefore without in-person learning, schools risk children falling behind academically and exacerbating educational inequities.

Arguments for Full Reopening

The US Administration is pushing its case for full reopening on the grounds:

§ Parents are expecting that this fall, their children will have a full-time, in-person learning in schools and the Administration needs to follow through on that promise.

§ The CDC never recommended that schools be closed in the first place, the government did. And so, the issue is confined to how schools reopen and children get back to learning full-time.

§ Children contract and get COVID-19 at far lower incidence than any other part of the population

§ The American Academy of Paediatrics in its report has stated that students do need to get back to school as there are real costs to the students in terms of not getting back.

§ Lastly, experts are clear that returning to in-person instruction is paramount for children.

Cons of Full Reopening

While administration officials have not acknowledged that reopening schools safely in the context of the current US outbreak carries risks and uncertainties, issues exist. Some of the cons of the full reopening diktat are:

• Thirty-six US states are now experiencing an increase in cases, and over 30 states have test positivity rates higher than 5 percent. While a number of countries have reopened schools without reporting major outbreaks, the prevalence of COVID-19 was much lower in many of these countries. Reopening schools at the current pandemic levels in the US (or India, Brazil) determines how many people potentially bring the virus it into a school.
• The science around COVID-19 transmission dynamics and children is still too limited to fully assess the risks to children, staff and families when schools reopen.
• Administration purportedly indicating to schools that they may disregard CDC school guidance that is too difficult or expensive, runs counter to the goal of maximizing safety.
• It is unfair to nudge schools to fully reopen —with no excuses accepted—while putting the burden of deciding which CDC guidance to forgo on the educators and local community leaders.
• The World Health Organization has now concluded that the corona virus is airborne in crowded, indoor spaces with poor ventilation, a condition that exists in many schools. The schools could help incubate outbreaks, as they are likely to have difficulty in social distancing, let alone wearing masks.
• A substantial number of teachers have expressed concerns about their safety in returning to schools.
• There are a lot of variables and that each local situation uniquely impacts the inner workings of a school.

Precautions for Reopened Schools

The committee from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine recommended that regular symptom checks should be conducted and surgical masks to be worn by all teachers and staff members during school hours, and cloth face coverings to be worn by all students, including those in elementary school.

The committee also recommended:

• Provide hand washing stations or hand sanitizer for all people who enter school buildings, minimize contact with shared surfaces, and increase regular surface cleaning.
• Limit large gatherings of students, such as during assemblies, in the cafeteria, and overcrowding at school entrances, possibly by staggering arrival times.
• Reorganize classrooms to enable physical distancing, such as by limiting class sizes or moving instruction to larger spaces.
• Cohorting to have a group of 10 students or less stay with the same staff as much as possible, is a promising strategy for physical distancing.
• Prioritize cleaning, ventilation, and air filtration, while recognizing that these alone will not sufficiently lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission. In the long term, schools will need upgrades to ventilation and air-filtration systems.
• Create a culture of health and safety in every school, and enforce virus mitigation guidelines using positive approaches rather than by disciplining students.

Pointers for Schools in India

Like the US, India too finds itself on somewhat similar ‘horns of dilemma’. The Department of School Education and Literacy, Union Ministry of Human Resources and Development (HRD) had recently sought feedback from parents of school going children on what would be the likely period when they will be comfortable with reopening of schools —August / September / October, 2020 and their expectations from Schools, as and when they reopen.

The issues thrown up during the discussions and debates on school reopening strategy in the US provide some pointers for the schools in India. A few of them are enumerated below:

? Appreciate your Role. Schools fulfil many roles beyond providing education to the students; these being child care, nutrition, health services, social, emotional and mental wellbeing. Schools, therefore must work with the community to reopen at the earliest.

? Recognise Responsibility. Irrespective of local regulations and guidelines inforce, most schools will recognise that the students and their parents have reposed their trust in the school. Consequently, the ultimate responsibility for the physical well-being of the students will invariably be that of the schools. Recognising this responsibility schools must, plan and prepare in detail for reopening.

? Grasp the Science. The current understanding of COVID-19 can be best described as ‘evolving.’ For aspects related to children, schools must take the worst case scenario; disregard the current statistical evidence and consider children to be as vulnerable and prone to virus transmission as an Adult. This understanding should guide their mitigation efforts.

? Take a Long View. Many would see the development and availability of a COVID-19 vaccine as the endpoint of the COVID-19 crisis and start of a ‘new normal.’ Better schools would hold a long term perspective on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and pandemics in general. To that end, changes to the school working environment must be long lasting and sustainable.

? Create Resources. In the current situation resources to implement mitigation measures will be hard to come by. Schools will have to prioritise and plan. For example, take up IT upgradation first and defer improvements in HVAC system to before next summer. Point here is that for the sake of compliance do not dilute asset quality and compromise on efficiency.

? Blended Learning. The ability to deliver lessons/lectures/instructions online is no longer an ‘add-on’ capability but a facility each school must consider as ‘base-line’. This will be the corner stone of the school’s Business Continuity Plan. Schools must strive for a hybrid teaching capability to deliver a blend of in-person and remote learning

? Contingency Planning. Schools should be prepared for future school closures based on the progress of the pandemic. Accordingly they must plan for potential outbreaks to occur and prepare contingency plans built around virtual learning with support to special needs students and students from containment/quarantine zones.

? Collaborate. Schools should partner closely with public health officials to assess school facilities for minimum health standards and consult on school plans for COVID-19 mitigation, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff and SOPs for handling COVID-19 cases.

? Comprehend Mitigation Measures. Every member of the school staff must understand each of the mitigation measures being implemented and the reason behind them. This will yield effective and lasting implementation.

? Diversity Issues. Plan additional, yet unobtrusive, precautions for children from modest economic backgrounds from congested living homes and areas as these children would find it different to adhere to social distancing and other COVID-19 precautions.

? Review the Routine. It is imperative that schools review its routine administrative functions such as housekeeping, waste management, transport etc. These, now need to be done better. Aspects such as movement of students for classes and other activities will need to be relooked to avoid bunching up in corridors etc.

? HR Aspects. Staffing is likely to be a major challenge if and when schools reopen. A significant portion of school staff are in high-risk age groups, or will be hesitant to return to work because of the health risks. Besides having a reserve pool of all types of staff certain COVID-19 mitigation strategies, such as maintaining smaller class size or additional transport, will require extra staff.

? Emergency & Crisis Management Plans. The COVID-19 mitigation measures for school bring about significant changes to the school processes and procedures. Schools must ensure their Emergency Response Plans (ERP) are revised and updated to include these changes as they may impact the response to other emergencies. It is also a good time to integrate response to pandemics into the school ERP.

Conclusion

Two factors should steer the debate on the safe reopening of schools. One, balancing safety and learning; parents, students and teachers must weigh the risk of prolonged virtual learning versus the risk from the virus itself. Two, the quality of mitigation measures inside the school and the state of the coronavirus prevalence outside the school’s walls.

 Endnotes

[1] Pam Belluck, Apoorva Mandavilli and Benedict Carey. ‘How to Reopen Schools: What Science and Other Countries Teach Us, ‘The New York Times, July 11, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/health/coronavirus-schools-reopen.html

[2] Apoorva Mandavilli. ‘Citing Educational Risks, Scientific Panel Urges That Schools Reopen,’ The New York Times, July 15, 2020.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/health/coronavirus-schools-reopening.html

[3]‘Schools Should Prioritize Reopening in Fall 2020, Especially for Grades K-5, While Weighing Risks and Benefits,’ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. News Release | July 15, 2020. https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/07/schools-should-prioritize-reopening-in-fall-2020-especially-for-grades-k-5-while-weighing-risks-and-benefits