E&W Blog

We all agree that the safety of our children must be prioritized when discussing reopening plans. Encouragingly, recent studies have found a minimal link between opening schools and COVID-19 cases. In fact, health professionals are pointing to mounting health consequences—due to school closures—for students who miss out on vital services provided by in-person instruction.
 
NPR recently published an article highlighting new research that indicates we can and should reopen schools SAFELY when possible. Every state and community face unique challenges that guide schools in their plans to educate students—there is no one-size-fits-all solution—but existing evidence tells us the costs of keeping schools closed is high for children. Read more below:
 
NPR: Are The Risks Of Reopening Schools Exaggerated?
By Anya Kamenetz
October 21, 2020
 
Despite widespread concerns, two new international studies show no consistent relationship between in-person K-12 schooling and the spread of the coronavirus. And a third study from the United States shows no elevated risk to childcare workers who stayed on the job.
 
Combined with anecdotal reports from a number of U.S. states where schools are open, as well as a crowdsourced dashboard of around 2,000 U.S. schools, some medical experts are saying it's time to shift the discussion from the risks of opening K-12 schools to the risks of keeping them closed.
 
"As a pediatrician, I am really seeing the negative impacts of these school closures on children," Dr. Danielle Dooley, a medical director at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., told NPR. She ticked off mental health problems, hunger, obesity due to inactivity, missing routine medical care and the risk of child abuse — on top of the loss of education. "Going to school is really vital for children. They get their meals in school, their physical activity, their health care, their education, of course." …
 
On Oct. 14, the Infectious Diseases Society of America gave a briefing on safe school reopenings. Bottom line? "The data so far are not indicating that schools are a superspreader site," said Dr. Preeti Malani, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Michigan's medical school.
 
One place in the U.S. where systematic data gathering is happening — Utah — seems to echo the conclusions drawn by the new international studies. Utah's state COVID-19 database clearly reports school-associated cases by district. And while coronavirus spread is relatively high in the state, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson believes that schools are not, for the most part, driving spread. …
 
When you add up what we know and even what we still don't know, some doctors and public health advocates said there are powerful arguments for in-person schooling wherever possible, particularly for younger students and those with special needs.
 
To read the full article from NPR, click here.