When Can Kids Go Back To School? Leaders Say 'As Soon As It's Safe'
Ann Levett's worst day as superintendent of Savannah-Chatham County Public School System wasn't March 26, the day Georgia's governor first closed schools, keeping Levett's more than 37,000 students home in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Her worst day came just a couple of weeks ago, Levett says, when she realized the infection numbers around Savannah were so high that she wasn't going to be able to reopen schools.
Levett had hoped to welcome students back on Aug. 5, right on schedule, but says she can't do that safely while COVID-19 continues to spread in Georgia — and many nearby states. Every day, Levett wakes up and checks the numbers. "And I'm like, 'Please, please let them go down. Please let them go down. And they're not going down.' "
As President Trump criticized school leaders for not reopening fully or quickly, NPR reached out to superintendents across the country, to hear their side of the reopening story. And from Georgia to New York, Texas to Ohio, they were consistent:
School leaders say they are determined to open school safely, and feel dismayed by the Trump administration's efforts to politicize and rush decisions that could have CONTINUE READING: Audio: When Can Kids Go Back To School? Leaders Say 'As Soon As It's Safe' | 89.3 KPCC