All this talk about reopening schools. We have to get back to normal and send our kids back to school. We can’t get back to normal because it’s not safe. We can, because kids don’t get the virus much. We can’t, because there is no science to tell us how much kids actually do get the virus or how contagious they are for their teachers, or their siblings, parents, and grandparents when they get home. We’re going to reopen schools in person, in September, and with no masks and social distancing. We’ve already declared online learning only for schools next fall.
So I have a thought. Let’s get some data fast. For the locations that are committed to reopening in-person schools in September, don’t wait and do it all at once, do a test right now. For the parents that are willing to risk their children, create test classrooms. Make one for preschoolers, another for elementary school, and so on. Do several of each. Monitor the students and their families to determine the viral effect. It wouldn’t be a pure scientific study, but even if you only do it for a month it will provide additional information. And if you continue the test, even after schools open, it will still be a month ahead of the curve. The test might serve as a canary in a coal mine. If school reopening is going to blow up as an unanticipated disaster, it would only happen to a few hundred kids and families instead of the entire country.
What I suggest is a terrible approach, and it’s cold to consider doing that to kids and families, but if it’s about to be done on a grand scale anyway, at least limit the damage done if there is going to be any. Maybe there is no danger for small kids, but with teenagers it’s too risky. Maybe older kids are okay if they wear masks. Maybe there is no danger to reopening the schools at all. If you’re going to do it anyway though, before we know the risks, at least gather some data on a small scale before we go all-in.
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