Public-health experts say: Reopen schools! and other commentary


Though no fans of President Trump, Harvard public-health professors Benjamin Sommers, Joseph Allen, Sarah Bleich and Jessica Cohen agree with him in The Boston Globe: “Schools can — and should — reopen” in the fall. Just “listen to the science,” which shows that the spring school closures have, among other things, “led to months of lost learning and widened gaps in educational achievement.” At the same time, studies show children are “less likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19,” half as likely to “get infected in the first place” and “less likely than adults to” transmit it to others. Yes, schools would need to “implement proven risk-reduction strategies” — but that’s no reason to keep them closed. “Listen to the evidence,” in other words: Let kids learn in person.
“Woke-ism is fast becoming the new state religion,” Ben Weingarten ­laments at Newsweek — “the ultimate tool of cynical, radically leftist power-grabbers.” Its main principle — that “America is a deplorable, irredeemable nation”— isn’t new among leftists, but only recently have our elites “mainstreamed” it. Politicians such as Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo, among others, have let “the Woke flood the streets” to start “rioting and looting with impunity” while banning Christians and Jews from practicing their religion, and the ideology has even spread to the federal financial and security establishments. Such a situation portends the undermining of our founding principles and “dismantling of our system” — leading, in the end, to “a theocracy of the woke.”
Libertarian: Our Worsening Economic Crisis
New data show that “permanent business closures” are “on the rise ­nationwide, even as consumer activity continues to slowly increase,” ­reports Reason’s Eric Boehm, with even big businesses “now making further cuts.” Restaurants “have been hardest hit.” No matter how much they reopen, after all, “there’s no substitute for a packed house on Friday night,” which is “simply not realistic right now.” Even federal assistance and loans “may end up merely having flattened the curve” of job losses. Worse, we have no solution right now: The economy will only reopen if most Americans “feel safe going out to restaurants and stores again,” which won’t happen “until the number of coronavirus cases and deaths start falling” — “a vicious cycle for the country and death spiral for many businesses.”
Conservative: An Octogenarian Tyranny
“American politics is getting senile,” blasts Daniel McCarthy in The Spectator. Polls show that the public is about to turn its back against President Trump. Yet “his defeat does not promise to be a source of renewal — not when the alternative is a 77-year-old former vice president.” Joe Biden represents and/or outright committed all the major foreign-policy and economic blunders of his generation of establishment leaders. And joining him will be an equally old and discredited Democratic leadership in the House, including “the chamber’s oldest ever Speaker (80-year-old Nancy Pelosi), an even older House majority leader (Steny Hoyer, 81) and a third octogenarian as majority whip (James Clyburn, 80).” Predictably, given the two parties’ aging power base, their programs are downright “stale” and “decrepit.”
Education desk: No to a Federal School Bailout
“Almost half of House Democrats” want “an additional $305 billion for an 18-month ‘stabilization’ fund for K-12 public schools” — a “massive increase in federal taxpayer spending” that’s “at least a year too early for Congress to consider,” economist Benjamin Scafidi worries at The Washington Examiner. “Instead, public schools should follow the lead from the private sector by right-sizing their staffing models,” starting by considering if they really “need to increase staff endlessly.” If they need money after that, they should “rely on state and school-district reserve funding first” — and if all of those sources don’t work out, then Congress can consider a bailout. Instead of asking for a congressional bailout now, though, school districts should “weather the storm” by starting to “rethink their priorities.”
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Children's Literacy Programs


Literacy Boost

While more children are in school today than ever before, many are not learning basic skills like reading once they get there. Save the Children's Literacy Boost is helping to change that by creating a culture of reading both inside and outside the classroom that dramatically improves children’s literacy development.
Literacy Boost helps children learn to read and read to learn by:
  • Measuring kids' reading skills to see how well they know their ABCs, sound out words and letters, read and understand sentences.
  • Training teachers to help children crack the code of reading, keep students engaged and interested in reading books, and use games, songs and stories in literacy lessons.
  • Getting communities involved in learning by providing books, libraries and supplies, sponsoring camps, "reading buddies" and other learning activities
For Kid Readers:
  • Kids can practice reading with your parents and friends -- at home and at school.
  • Visit your local library and read! If you don't have a library, create one—share a book with a friend.
For Adult Readers:
  • Talk and read to a child every day to introduce new words into their vocabulary.
  • Promote reading during everyday activities like shopping, cooking and running errands.
  • Tell your elected officials in Washington, DC that you support U.S. investments and policies to help kids learn to read around the globe.

Leveraging Change For Children

Through Literacy Boost and other effective education and literacy programs, Save the Children is working together with partners around the world to ensure that every child receives a quality education and gains the skills and knowledge they need to thrive and develop.
  • Globally, Save the Children is helping to craft a new global development goal on education to ensure that girls and boys everywhere learn how to read, write, and count by the age of 12, and that the learning gaps between the poorest and the richest children are significantly reduced.
  • In the United States, Save the Children is working with the U.S. Congress to support funding for global education, both bilaterally and through the multilateral Global Partnership for Education initiative, and support policies like the Education for All Act that will make a transformative change in children’s ability to learn in developing countries.
Where is Literacy Boost?
Save the Children helps teachers, parents and communities boost their children’s literacy development — transforming their future and the future we all share. To date, Literacy Boost has helped nearly 4 million children in more than 30 countries improve their reading skills.

Students Rebuild: Make a Hand, Lend a Hand

Students Rebuild, in partnership with Save the Children and Global Nomads Group, has launched an effort to help provide youth around the globe pathways to change their lives and lift themselves into a better future.
Throughout the world, millions of young people have to leave their education behind to find ways to help provide for themselves and their families most basic needs. Despite this, many still live in extreme poverty – on less than $1.90 a day.
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Girl's Education

A girl is not a statistic or a piece of property. She's a child who deserves a future. 
Girls the world over face discrimination – just for being born a daughter and not a son. A girls education is less likely to be valued, and she’s more likely to be forced into early marriage, face violence or be stolen by traffickers. Her childhood cut short – her very life and future at risk.
A girl’s education changes everything. An educated girl is more likely to grow up healthy, safe and empowered to determine the course of her life and future. She’ll decide when she’s ready for marriage and children. She’ll likely send her children to school – and even live a longer life.
We understand the importance of education for girl children. We do whatever it takes to ensure every last child has a chance to grow up healthy, educated and safe – her best chance for a bright future. 
With your help, we can educate girls who may not otherwise have the chance to learn — changing the course of their lives, their children’s lives and the future of their communities.
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Schooling does not always lead to learning. Worldwide, there are more non-learners in school than out of school.




Children and adolescents are excluded from education for many reasons. Poverty remains one of the most obstinate barriers, with children from the poorest households almost five times more likely to be out of primary school than those from the richest.
Children with disabilities and from ethnic minorities are also more likely to be left behind.
For girls in some parts of the world, education opportunities can be especially limited. Only 66 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. Harmful gender norms can have severe effects for boys, too.
Location also keeps children from school. Children from rural areas are more than twice as likely to be out of primary school than their urban peers. In conflict zones, 27 million children are out of school.

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How to Teach the Importance of Education to Children

Children at their earliest ages should learn and realize the importance of education in their lives. Some kids, however, may resist your efforts and insist on doing things their way. As a parent, your best teaching tool is your attitude. Having a positive attitude about reading and a curiosity about learning new things instills similar beliefs in your children. Show them that education is the ticket to fulfilling their dreams and having a productive life.
Teach the value of education early in a child's life. Children are naturally curious and observant. If they see you reading books and newspapers, they may be wondering why this activity holds such interest. Tell them that they need to learn to read to be able to also share such enjoyment. Read to them often help them develop their language skills.
Impress on children the importance of school. This means getting them to school on time and modeling the importance of punctuality. Take an interest in all their homework and make sure the required assignments are completed before the due dates.
Take your children to educational yet fun parks. Instead of taking them to the malls, take them to a museum, science center or zoo. Explain to them that continuing their education will allow them to understand more about the world around them. This strategy will certainly make them more motivated to learn and study.
Introduce the computer to children. Computers never fail to amaze people, especially young children. Let them play grade-level software games that will provide fun and entertainment. Emphasize to children that learning about computer use, videos and education go hand in hand.
Teach the importance of education daily. You could incorporate mathematics into daily tasks and situations. Have them help you count the number of cookies on a cookie pan. Their love for learning could start if you rely on them to do specific tasks. Incorporate counting, reading and writing within those simple tasks. For example, you could take them to the market and have them pick out a certain number items (like five apples or four oranges).
Enroll your children in schools. If you want them to love education, make sure to place them in an environment that fosters comfort, fun and learning at the same time. In addition, attend all the parent teacher conferences and become active in other school activities. Your child will notice and grow to respect the time you put into her education.
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Early Childhood Development


Early Childhood Development is an investment for life. But in countries where poverty, armed conflict, natural disasters, and HIV and AIDS threaten a child's family and community support structures, Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs seldom take priority.
The evidence is mounting: increased global investment in children under 8 years of age today builds a better educated, prosperous, and peaceful citizenry tomorrow.
Children who participate in Early Childhood Development programs, when compared with children who don't, are more likely to enroll in school, plan their families, become productive adults, and educate their own children.
They also are less likely to repeat a grade, drop out of school, or engage in criminal activities.
Through interventions that engage young children, as well as their parents, caregivers, and communities, Save the Children's Early Childhood Development programs ensure that young children survive and thrive — that they are physically and emotionally healthy and intellectually curious — and school readiness programs prepare them for school success.
Early childhood, the period between birth and age 8, is the foundation of a child’s future health, growth, development and achievement at school and throughout life. Experiences during these early years shape brain architecture and have a direct impact on social, emotional and learning skills. This investment prospectus focuses on the first five years of a child’s life — an important window of opportunity in a child’s development.

The Need to Start Early

Why are early learning opportunities so important? During the first few years of life, approximately 700 neural connections are formed every second. These connections are dictated by the interplay of a baby’s genetics, environment and experiences, especially the child’s interactions with adults. These are the connections that build brain architecture — the foundation upon which all later learning and behavior depend.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied the home environments of children at age 4 and again at age 8, and then observed their brain structure in late adolescence. They found that the amount of cognitive stimulation available at age 4 affected cortical thickness, which has been linked with intelligence, when these children’s brains were scanned many years later. And consistent with the importance of early experience, cognitive stimulation at age 8 did not show the same effects.
Children who are not exposed to early learning opportunities before age 5 are left at a distinct disadvantage.
Research from the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University shows that differences in the sizes of children’s vocabularies first appear at 18 months of age. On average, children living in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers by the time they turn age 3. By age 5, half of all children living in poverty are not academically or socially ready to start school. Not only do these children start school at a disadvantage, many never catch up.
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Bacaan dan Tafsir AL-Qur'an Surat Muhammad Ayat 22 - 23



Tafsir AL-Qur'an Surat Muhammad Ayat 22. Dan seringkali kondisi kalian apabila kalian berpaling dari keimanan terhadap Allah dan ketaatan kepada-Nya bahwa kalian membuat kerusakan di bumi dengan kekufuran dan kemaksiatan serta kalian memutuskan hubungan silaturahmi, sebagaimana kondisi kalian pada jaman jahiliyah.


Tafsir AL-Qur'an Surat Muhammad Ayat 23 . Orang-orang yang disebutkan mempunyai sifat-sifat merusak di bumi dan memutus tali silaturahmi adalah orang-orang yang dijauhkan Allah dari rahmat-Nya, telinga-telinga mereka ditulikan Allah dari mendengar kebenaran dengan pendengaran yang menerima dan pasrah, dan penglihatan mereka dibutakan Allah dari melihat kebenaran dengan penglihatan yang mengambil pelajaran

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Florida wrestles with impossible question: when can schools reopen safely?


Broward county, Florida, is America’s sixth largest school district, where more than 10,000 teachers are tasked with educating more than 270,000 students. Now, it is also a Covid-19 hotbed.

When in-person classes ended here on 13 March, there were 11 cases of Covid-19 in the county, according to Johns Hopkins University’s virus tracker. Now, there are more than 23,000 cases, with a curve bending vertically. Covid-19 cases have doubled in 20 days.
As the virus spreads and reopenings are placed on pause, no one in Broward county seems to agree on a fundamental question: when should students return to school, and how?
“It’s very tough right now, with the amount of cases we have,” said Burt Miller, president of the Broward County Council of Parent Teacher Student Associations, a coalition of groups made up of hyper-involved parents, and a father of a future high school freshman.
“I sit on meetings almost every day with the school board, different committees, trying to figure out how this is going to happen,” said Miller. “Nobody has a set plan, because every time you think of something, something else comes up that’s going to counteract that.”
In the last week, all eyes have been on Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, which have seen spikes in Covid. With the exception of California, these states normally resume classes in early to mid-August. That now feels worrying close to the Fourth of July, a holiday known for socializing, partying and drinking – all behaviors public health officials warn can help spread the virus.
Amid this trend, Donald Trump has heaped pressure on educators. He criticized “tough and expensive” guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which the agency said it would revise after his comments. The CDC director, Dr Robert Redfield, said he would be “very disappointed” if schools used guidelines put out by his agency as a reason not to reopen.
Trump’s administration has also threatened schools’ funding, at a time when local governments are expected to slash school budgets in response to cratered sales tax revenue. Educators across the country have begged for federal support, but have received none of the $250bn they proposed in a letter to Congress.

With the school year now getting near across these states, anxious teachers, frustrated parents and overwhelmed school districts are wrestling with how to bring students back, if at all, amid a pandemic whose trajectory only seems to reach skyward.
“It’s very exhausting,” Miller said. “I would not want to be a part of the decision-making the school board’s got to make.”
Arizona already delayed school reopening once in June, when there were 74,000 Covid-19 cases. There are now 108,000, and ticking up. Texas’s education agency will require students aged 10 and older to wear masks to attend in-person classes. Parents there can request virtual instruction.
Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, this week ordered “brick and mortar” schools to reopen at least five days a week for students, in consultation with health departments, this fall. Some school leaders have said there is still flexibility in the order, but worry about the pandemic escalating further.
On the day the governor made the announcement, one of the local hospitals in the Broward county city of Deerfield Beach had just one available intensive care bed.
“We do not see a path to reopening all district schools with 100% full enrollment every day, as we were before we closed schools due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the Broward county superintendent, Robert Runcie, said in a video message to his district.
He also shot down comparisons to other countries, made by Trump, which had reopened their schools and economies.
“These countries have done widespread testing and contact tracing,” he said. “We have not done so, and consequently don’t have the infrastructure and systems in place that are necessary.
“The sad fact is that there is no national plan.”
Pediatrician Dr Tommy Schechtman, a past president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who practices in nearby Palm Beach, said: “We all want our kids back into school, but we need to do it safely.”
Fall classes were scheduled to start on 10 August in Palm Beach. The board announced this week all classes would still be virtual.
“We’re in the middle of a horrific surge,” said Schechtman. “Our hospitals don’t have ICU beds, our numbers are rampantly increasing.”
In the past week, his practice’s order for 400 Covid-19 tests went from back-ordered to canceled. The delay in test results grew from two days to six, and is now up to 12. And the practice is struggling to obtain basic personal protective equipment such as surgical gowns.
“You can’t do contact tracing when [test results are] 10-12 days out,” Schechtman said.
Broward county schools are among those still developing a model for students and teachers, now amid public acrimony. In the current “hybrid” proposal, Broward kids would go to in-person classes two to three days per week, and attend virtually on off days. But that plan has split the community.
“I don’t care if they sit side by side,” said a poster in a new Facebook group called “Broward parents for the return to school”.
The group, with more than 4,400 members, is advocating for full-time, in-person instruction. “The six-feet-apart nonsense is a joke. Just get them back in the classroom so we don’t have a country filled with anti-social dummies.”
Members have organized protests, letter-writing campaigns, shared letters from hopeful children, and even made T-shirts reading “five days, face-to-face”.
No matter the return-to-school policy, all are fraught with seemingly unanswerable questions. After all, how do you get a five-year-old to keep a mask on? How does a teacher refuse a hug to a crying child? Are children in part-time school eating enough? Are they suffering abuse? Is their mental health deteriorating?
Third-grade teacher and single mom Jamie Delerme, whose six-year-old daughter attends Broward schools, described it as a “no-win” situation.
“Ask any teacher: we would rather be back in the classroom,” she said.
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These are the colleges where black students really matter

When New York’s black high school seniors return to school in the fall and start looking ahead to college admissions, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) should be at the top of their lists.
As protests over racism continue to ripple across the country, HBCUs offer a safe haven where young minds can feel truly embraced by a racially diverse faculty who will empower them for the future. According to US Department of Education statistics, 75 percent of all black people with a doctorate degree (and four fifths of all black federal judges) received their undergraduate training at HBCUs. With typically lower tuition fees and a more integrated staff than traditionally white institutions, HBCUs are a more affordable and supportive way for black kids to level the playing field.
Today, there are 107 HBCUs, and the majority of them are in the South, so NYC high school students have no choice but to look farther away from home to places like Claflin University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University and Howard University. They might feel nervous, but the journey will be worth it. Take it from me — I went from Yonkers, NY, to Claflin University, a private HBCU in Orangeburg, SC, where I received an incredible education from some of the brightest minds teaching the art of public speaking, philosophy and Black History.
I learned some surprising fun facts, too, including one about Martin Luther King Jr. not being born “Martin.” He didn’t get that name until his father came back from a church-related trip and began to call himself Martin Luther King instead of Michael King in honor of the Protestant leader. On July 23, 1957 — 28 years after his birth — King Jr.’s birth certificate was revised. Dr. King, Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall all attended HBCUs. In addition to having the most iconic and prestigious black alumni base in the world, here are three more reasons why HBCUs shine:
A compelling historical background: The majority of HBCUs came about after the end of the Civil War. Former slaves knew that education was their ticket to the future, and they applied the same skills they had learned as slaves to their schools’ curriculums — including painting, architecture, farming, stonemasonry, cooking, carpentry, nursing and more. During the 1930s and 1940s, when many Jewish intellectuals left Europe after the rise of Nazism and could not find work in the US due to anti-Semitism, HBCUs embraced them with open arms. While much of America was still practicing anti-Semitism, racism and prejudice in the 1940s, Albert Einstein lectured at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, an HBCU.
They have always been open and loving institutions: HBCUs weren’t created as a way to go against the dominant society; they were created because the dominant society wouldn’t allow blacks to enroll in other schools. And contrary to popular belief, HBCUs are not just schools with black students. Some HBCUs even have more white students than they do black students. Bluefield State College in West Virginia was founded in 1895 to educate the children of black coal miners. Today, this HBCU is over 80 percent white. Many HBCUs also have students who are open and proud members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In 2019, the country’s only all-male HBCU, Morehouse College, opened its enrollment to transgender men, stating that, “Morehouse accepts applications from those who live and self-identify as men.”
The culture is unparalleled to any other type of institution in the country: A culture of black excellence thrives at HBCUs, producing some of our most prominent leaders including Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Toni Morrison and Chadwick Boseman, to name just a few. But HBCUs are also renowned for their warm hospitality and homestyle Southern cooking, which tastes just as good as the knowledge you’re receiving. What other collegiate dining halls serve peach cobbler, macaroni and cheese and cornbread? Come on now. (It’s no wonder that I put on weight during my undergraduate years.) All of this: delicious food, a family-like atmosphere, manicured lawns, pristine buildings, top-notch tuition and abundant love from professors is everything that black students — no, all students — need now more than ever.
Dennis Richmond Jr. is a freelance journalist and the author of “He Spoke at My School: An Educational Journey.” He is the founder and director of The New York-New Jersey Historically Black College and University Initiative, which prepares students by exposing them to opportunities only found at HBCUs.
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Mayor Says New York City Schools Will Not Fully Reopen In September

New York City’s 1.1 million public school students will attend class part-time this fall according to a preliminary plan announced today by Mayor Bill de Blasio in a press conference. Students will spend one to three days in the classroom each week. On staggered schedules, there will likely be only a dozen people gathered together at a time, including students, teachers and aides.
The nation’s largest school system, which has more than 1,800 schools, has long been plagued by overcrowding, with classes held in hallways and trailers. Most classes in middle and high school have at least 30 students. De Blasio and schools chancellor Richard Carranza, said they will adhere to the school safety guidelines laid out by the CDC, which recommend that students and staff stay six feet away from one another.
De Blasio laid out three possible scenarios. In one, school buildings would accommodate 50% of the number of students they had taken in the past. Students would get live instruction the same two days each week and every other Monday. The second plan would serve only a third of the normal number of people in each building. Students would go to school 1-2 days a week and get a total of five days of in-person instruction every three weeks. In the third model, students would attend in a six-day rotation, with two consecutive in-person days and four remote days in a cycle.
De Blasio said that the plan is subject to change, depending on recommendations from public health officials.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who frequently clashes with the mayor, said in his own press conference later today that he would make the final decisions about school reopening statewide. He will issue additional guidance Monday and school districts must submit their reopening plans to his office by July 31. A final decision will come the first week in August.
It’s not clear whether Cuomo will try to interfere with de Blasio’s plan. When a reporter asked the governor whether de Blasio’s ideas were “credible,” Cuomo answered “No.”
President Trump has been pressuring school leaders to fully reopen K-12 schools. Today he threatened to withhold federal funds if they don’t. Most school funding comes from state and local government sources. The federal government pays for just 8.3% of public school budgets nationwide, according to government figures. Nevertheless, Trump and Vice President Pence are trying to control what local districts do. To make it easier for schools to open, Pence said today that the CDC would issue new, less stringent school reopening guidelines soon.
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Tech CEO Apologizes After Viral Video Captures His Racist Rant At Asian Family

Michael Lofthouse, the CEO of a San Francisco-based tech company, Solid8, apologized on Tuesday after he was caught on camera making racist comments to an Asian family at a California restaurant, saying he “lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments.”


KEY FACTS

Lofthouse told an Asian family holding a birthday celebration at a restaurant in Carmel, California, that“Trump's gonna f**k you. You f*****g need to leave. You f*****g Asian piece of s**t,” a video of the incident shows.
In an Instagram post, Jordan Chan, the woman who recorded the Video Viral, said her family was singing happy birthday and taking pictures when Lofthouse started speaking to them.
An employee at the restaurant then stepped in between Lofthouse and the family, saying, “You do not talk to our guests like that. They are valued guests. Get out!" She then escorted him off the property.
In a statement to a local ABC affiliate, Lofthouse apologized: “My behavior in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day."
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Return to School During COVID-19


A big question parents have right now is how students can go back to school safely during COVID-19. The latest American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advice says children learn best when they are in school. However, returning to school needs careful steps in place to keep students and staff safe.

Why students should go back to school–safely

The AAP guidance is based on what pediatricians and infectious disease specialists know about COVID-19 and kids. Evidence so far suggests that children and adolescents are less likely to have symptoms or severe disease from infection. They also appear less likely to become infected or spread the virus.
Schools provide more than just academics to children and adolescents. In addition to reading, writing and math, children learn social and emotional skills, get exercise and access to mental health support and other things that cannot be provided with online learning. For many families, school is where kids get healthy meals, access to the internet, and other vital services.

What schools can do

To stay safe, there are a number of steps schools should take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They include:
Physical distancing. The goal should be to stay at least 6 feet apart to help prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. However, spacing desks at least 3 feet apart and avoiding close contact may have similar benefits for students--especially if students wear cloth face coverings and do not have symptoms of illness.
Teachers and staff, who are likely more at risk of getting COVID-19 from other adults than from children at school, should stay the full 6 feet apart from each other and students when possible. Teachers and staff should also wear cloth face coverings and limit in-person meetings with other adults.
When possible, outdoor spaces can be used for instruction and meals. Students should also have extra space to spread out during activities like singing and exercising.
Cloth face coverings & hand hygiene. Frequent hand washing with soap and water is important for everyone. In addition, all adults should wear cloth face coverings. Preschool and elementary students can benefit from wearing masks if they do not touch their mouths or noses a lot. Secondary school students should wear cloth face masks, especially when they can't stay a safe distance apart.
Classroom changes. To help limit student interaction outside the classroom, schools can:
  • Have teachers move between classrooms, rather than having students fill the hallways during passing periods.
  • Allow students to eat lunches at their desks or in small groups outdoors instead of in crowded lunchrooms.
  • Leave classroom doors open to help reduce high touch surfaces such as doorknobs.
Temperature checks and testing. COVID testing ​of all students is not possible for most schools. Taking students' temperature at school also may not always be feasible. Schools should establish ways to identify students with fever or other symptoms of illness. ​They can also frequently remind students, teachers, and staff to stay home if they have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher or have any signs of illness.
Cleaning and disinfecting. Schools should follow CDC guidelines on proper disinfecting and sanitizing classrooms and common areas.

Buses, hallways and playgrounds

Since these are often crowded spaces, schools can:
  • Give bus riders assigned seats and require them to wear a cloth face coverings while on the bus. Encourage students who have other ways to get to school to use those options.
  • At school, mark hallways and stairs with one-way arrows on the floor to cut down on crowding in the halls.
  • Outdoor activities are encouraged, so students should be allowed to use the playground in small groups.

Other considerations

In addition to having plans in place to keep students safe, there are other factors that school communities need to address:
Pressure to catch up. Students may not have gained as much from distance learning. Some students may not have had access to computers and internet. Schools should be prepared to adjust curricula and not expect to make up all lost progress. It is important to balance core subjects with physical education and other learning experiences.
Students with disabilities. The impact of schools being closed may have been greater for students with disabilities. They may have a difficult time transitioning back to school after missing out on instruction time as well as school-based services such as occupational, physical and speech-language therapy and mental health support counseling. School should review the needs of each child with an Individual Education Program before they return to school, and providing services even if they are done virtually.
​Immunizations. It is important as students return to school that they are up to date on their immunizations. It will be critical that stud​ents and staff get their flu shot this year to reduce the spread of influenza this fall and winter. Your pediatrician is available now to make sure you child is ready for school.
Exams. ​ If your child participates in extracurricular activities like sports or band, talk with your pediatrician to see if they need a preparticipation physical exam.  Key well-child visits​ are also important.  
Behavioral health/emotional support. Your child's school should anticipate and be prepared to address a wide range of mental health needs of students and staff. Schools should provide mental health support to any student struggling with stress from the pandemic and recognize students who show signs of anxiety or distress. Schools also can help students with suicidal thoughts or behavior get needed support.
Nutrition. Many students receive healthy meals through school meal programs More students might be eligible for free or reduced meals than before the pandemic. Schools should provide meal programs even if the school closes or the student is sick and stays home from school.
Students at higher risk. While COVID-19 school policies can reduce risk, they will not prevent it entirely. Even with safety steps in place, some students with high-risk medical conditions may need to continue distance learning or other accommodations. Talk with your pediatrician and school staff (including school nurses) to determine if your child can safely return to school.

Remember

Returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic may not feel like normal – at least for a while. But having school plans in place can help keep students, staff, and families safe.
Schools should also prepare to close again and temporarily switch to distance learning if there are new waves of COVID-19 infection.
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