Education in the Era of COVID-19
With so much uncertainty still swirling, Governor Whitmer’s “MI Safe Schools” plan has given us a glimpse of what things might look like for Michigan parents, students, and teachers come August. As we all can imagine, planning for an unpredictable pandemic is no easy feat, but this document has explicit requirements and guidelines to protect students, school employees, and families while allowing for in-person learning. Governor Whitmer convened a diverse panel of experts, called the Return to Learning Advisory Council, and charged the council with finding a safe way of reopening schools this fall. The carefully crafted recommendations—which cover everything from classroom arrangements to school sports—also come with more than $1.3B in additional funding for our schools.
This is a comprehensive, thoughtful strategy for giving Michigan students the education they deserve while protecting our communities, and it’s clear that a tremendous amount of effort went into developing guidelines that would work for most districts. The plan is designed to adapt requirements and recommendations to the ever-changing status of COVID-19 infection in our communities as well, and it is organized in phases to reflect the level of risk present. Currently, most Michigan communities are in Phase 4 of reopening, which would correspond to Phase 4 of the MI Safe Schools plan as well. I’m so proud to stand behind our Governor and the Return to Learning Advisory Council in advocating for, above all, a safe return to school this year.
If you’d like to read the specific details of every phase, the full plan is available here. However, I’ve provided some highlights below.
The Phases, Requirements, and Recommendations:
Under Phases 1-3, the community has “substantial and increasing” virus activity with concerns about health system capacity.
Schools must:
Remain closed for in-person instruction
The plan strongly recommends that schools:
Create mental health screening programs
Ensure students have the devices and connectivity needed to attend school remotely
Establish effective oversight and governance of remote learning, including assessments, focus groups and virtual surveys to review student performance and gather families’ feedback
This is where we were in March-June of 2020 as the pandemic began unfolding in Michigan. If we continue to social distance and responsibly reopen, we can hopefully avoid returning to this phase in the 2020-2021 school year.
Under Phase 4, the level of COVID-19 cases is still high though the number of deaths and new cases have plateaued. Social distancing is still necessary, but health system capacity can meet demand. This is where we are currently in Michigan, and, if trends continue, this is the section of the plan that will apply to most districts this fall.
Schools must:
Require all staff (who are medically able) to wear face coverings throughout the day.
Require all students (who are medically able) to wear face coverings during transportation to and from school, in hallways and common areas, and require students in grades 6-12 to wear face coverings throughout the day.
Provide hygiene supplies including soap, sanitizer, and paper towels, instruct students on proper handwashing procedures, and conduct cleaning of high-touch surfaces at least every four hours or after every class period.
Space desks six feet apart in classrooms and as far as practicable when tables are used in lieu of desks, and provide instructions for social distancing throughout the building.
Prohibit indoor assemblies that include students from more than one classroom
For sports, schools must comply with all guidelines issued by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The plan strongly recommends that schools:
Have scheduled hand-washing for students and teachers every 2-3 hours
Limit sharing of school supplies, disinfect regularly, and keep students’ belongings separate
Bring elective classes like music and art to the individual classroom to limit student movement throughout the building
Stagger meal times and time for moving between classes to minimize the number of students congregating in lunchrooms and hallways
Identify a quarantine area for students with suspected symptoms
Keep symptomatic students and staff home from school until they receive a negative COVID-19 test
Implement a standard mental health screening and identify resources for crisis management and mental health referrals.
Under Phase 5, new cases and deaths are on a continued decline, and the risk of community spread is lower. Assuming local health departments concur, Phase 4 safety protocols can be relaxed, though masks, routine hand washing and disinfection of surfaces, and social distancing measures are still strongly recommended.
Phase 6 refers to a post-pandemic state when there are few to zero active cases and sufficient “herd immunity” or treatments to combat large-scale spread. Schools return to typical hygiene guidelines and no special safety protocols are required.
While we’re all eagerly awaiting the day when Phase 6 becomes our reality, the truth is, we still have a fairly long way to go. After all, bars in our state and many others are shutting down again, cases are climbing in many areas of the US, and we don’t yet have a thoroughly vetted treatment to dole out to anyone who gets sick. It’s been a tough few months, but we are tougher, and one day this pandemic will just be a terrible memory—one of the strangest and most devastating scenarios to come out of a 2020 that’s been nothing short of bizarre so far.
In the meantime, the most important thing we can all do for ourselves and our communities, though, is to follow the guidelines provided by our Governor and state and local health authorities. Masks aren’t a political statement, they’re tools to prevent the spread of a deadly illness. Social distancing isn’t an inconvenience, it’s a public health strategy that has been used for decades to reduce infections and save lives. These measures only work if we follow them, and we must care enough about our own health and that of our neighbors to abide by the restrictions, no matter how inconvenient or frustrating. Our only way out of this is through it, but we must keep on pushing through together.