Schools Reopening, Putting All Staff and Children in Extreme Danger

Idea for our state leaders: Call it now. I don’t see a way to return to school 100 percent face-to-face in the fall. Call it now. Give teachers a month to plan a semester of quality lessons that will engage students online. Give parents a month to prepare their kids for the inevitable and make arrangements with their employers. Give kids a month to mentally prepare for the idea of online school instead making them live in constant fear of the sudden change. Call it now. Give us a month to make the plans to do it right. A month to develop a real online school where students can and will learn. A month for crisis counselors to develop plans to help students in emotional distress from home. A month for districts to make plans for a small-scale, on-campus special education school for those students who need special attention on a face-to-face basis so it can be provided safely. A month for teachers and administrators to conceive ways for students to stay connected in an online environment. Online clubs. Online events. Online contests. Online opportunities. Call it now. This is coming anyway. I hope I’m wrong. But the way the number of cases keeps climbing, I don’t see how I can be. Let’s not waste this month in fear, making plans for lessons, labs, games, events and opportunities that will never come to pass. Let us galvanize our collective efforts as real educators and make a plan that will serve our kids and community better. Safer. Call it now.