Before COVID-19 began to resurge, before Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos started pitting teachers against parents and pushing for schools to reopen regardless of whether students were safe to be in school buildings, most educators were comfortable returning to their classrooms with adequate safeguards. Unfortunately, those safeguards have not yet been in place in many places. Now, many educators are afraid to go back and some are quitting or retiring.
Those who are preparing to open schools should learn from New York City, which has maintained in-person instruction at hundreds of schools since March 2020. Its experience offers lessons about how districts can develop comprehensive reopening plans that include extensive resources for viral testing, and then keep schools open by using multilayered mitigation strategies as community virus rates rise and fall.
A central element of NYC’s reopening plan was its emphasis on collaborative risk assessment. The school system used staff and union representatives to walk through each building, generating data that informed decisions about ventilation and other health and safety issues. The district also developed a “viral tracing” program, with schools in yellow, orange, and red zones required to perform monthly surveillance testing of 10-20% of their in-person students and staff with short nasal swabs for molecular testing, which detects the presence of viral genetic material.
New school leaders should start with a clear vision of their ideal school, including what type of educational program it will offer and how it will be supported financially. They should also identify key local organizations that have missions or interests that align with the school and could provide resources or partnerships, such as community colleges, museums, libraries, nonprofits, businesses, and other groups.