Thoughts on "opening" schools
From the perspective of someone who has taught every grade from 7 through 12, in public, charter, and private (both religious and secular) schools.
CLASSROOMS — It is impossible in most schools to have 6 foot between students. Last year I had up to 30 seniors in a room at a time, with a social distance rarely even 2 feet between them. To get to 6 feet I would have to limit the number of students to around 10-12. To even get to a 3 foot distance in between would probably require a doubling of the number of classrooms, even maximizing use (teachers floating into rooms where a teacher has a period off). Very few buildings have that kind of excess space. And even if you could get to 6 foot distance, how do students maintain that coming in and going out of the room without creating problems in the hallways?
HALLWAYS — in most schools, even if you limit when students transition between classes, how do you maintain proper social distance when you have hundreds of students in hallway? what about going to lockers, which are cheek to jowl?
CAFETERIAS — most schools use just about every seat. You have students in line to get food. They are close together. They sit very close with one another, and they will NOT be masked while they are eating. How do you minimize those risks for students? What about for the cafeteria workers? Those restaurants that have opened have in general closed salad bars, buffets, precisely because of the risk of spread. In theory everything could be bagged lunches but then there are dietary restrictions for health and religious reasons even beyond preference issues. And then where would students eat?
BUSES — a large portion of students go to/from school by bus. Many of those buses are crowded, and do multiple routes. To maintain social distance on those buses would require at least doubling the number of buses for most school systems, an expense they cannot afford. And they would have real trouble getting the additional drivers. CONTINUE READING: Thoughts on "opening" schools
