Opening Schools

Dear Phil Murphey,

My name is Jake Jenkins and I am attending school at Central Regional as a senior in high school. I am writing to you today in regards to my senior year. As you know, last years seniors, their year was cut very short because of Covid, and they were not allowed to enjoy all of the activities at the end of the year. We, as juniors, felt really bad for them and hoped it would end soon so we could finish up junior year at school, then start senior year fresh. That did not turn out so well. We now are missing 3 days a week and only going to school for less than a half day, as well as missing so many fun activities like football games and dances. We need to get back to school and I would like to help by giving you some suggestions on how it would work. I am specifically looking for you for this help, because you are the only one with the power to help the students.

I’d like to first open all of the schools with low very low Covid cases, at least for 4 hours out of the 6 we normally go to. Masks would be required all throughout the day and students would need to wear them everywhere they go. The hardest part about this, is keeping the 6 ft distance and enforcing that. I think the arrows in the hall and making kids go outside instead of in the hallways is a fantastic idea and would really help. This would obviously take a lot of time and effort, but in the long run it would help our students and their mental health and grades. I would like to set up a virtual or in person meeting with you to discuss more and if you have any questions.

Sincerely, Jake Jenkins

The graduating class of 2020 had to experience the beginning of the Corona virus last year. They were told, at first. We needed to close school for two weeks and have online classes everyday, just so we could take precautions and slow the spread as it was coming a lot faster than expected. So everyone left school for a while, but two weeks turned into three, then four then the rest of the school year. Everyone felt horrible that these seniors could not experience their last few months of highschool, which had all of the major events. They couldn’t have a prom or senior trips and the seniors were very upset. Fast forward until after the summer, the class of 2021 is starting their senior year. Covid has not gone away and they still have to take online classes while only going two days a week and seeing half of the school. There is no known date this will stop; this could go on all year for all we know. Last year’s seniors can no longer complain about missing the last month of their senior year, while this year’s seniors are missing their entire school year.

While this isn’t any problem on the surface, there are deeper problems. Kids are experiencing depression at levels we’ve never seen. Students are becoming lonely and are unable to see their friends. Parents of younger kids are unable to work because they have to take care of their kids, or are unable to have someone take care of their kids. It is so much harder to teach kids over a screen because they can get easily distracted and just go back to sleep. We need to open up our schools. Doing so would help students in school, help parents go back to work and most importantly, help students with loneliness and thoughts of depression and suicide.

A very important aspect to school is being able to see your teachers and for them to give you hands-on learning activities. It does not matter whether you are in 1st grade or highschool, the majority of students learn better from hands-on learning. Last year, teachers were able to directly help you one on one in class and have you come up on their whiteboard to do math problems, whereas now it is much more difficult. Students have to use computers to do work and sometimes they have internet issues which won’t allow them to upload work. According to whitehouse.gov, “ For many children, online learning is not a perfect substitute for the engaged learning children receive from being physically present in classrooms… student progress in math has slowed due to distance learning, and this is particularly exacerbated in minority and low-income groups.” Based on this research, it clearly shows students are doing worse in math due to online school. It also suggests that students prefer in person school than online school. Another perfect example of this is myself and fellow classmates. My grades have suffered due to being mostly online, whether it is for college classes or high school classes and that is because I feel like I can not focus during online classes. It is also more difficult to learn while not being in person with a teacher. Thankfully, I am not taking math yet, that will be next semester, but if we aren’t in school for that, I feel like my math grade will surfer the most. For my other classmates, they have complained about the same issues. We all felt like we learned and retained information much better when sitting in a desk then sitting on our own beds. According to Carol Burris , a teacher who wrote on washingtonpost.com, “ all but top students are academically falling behind — with the most disadvantaged students experiencing the most significant learning loss.” This fact means that the majority of students’ grades are dropping and the ones who don’t have the access to the internet or a computer are failing even worse. When they were able to go into school, they didn’t need a computer. They could do their homework or work in general on paper or on a school computer. Now, just because they or their parents can’t afford a computer, this means their grade has to fail?

Not just students are affected by online school; teachers and parents are as well. A lot

of teachers were thrown into this without preparation because they were not taught in college how to prepare for this. This isn’t the teachers fault, however, just a series of unfortunate events. As for parents, they have it worse than teachers. Most parents have regular 9–5 jobs and kids get out of school from 1:30–3. Parents are not home to take care of their children and since they were so unprepared for this, they don’t have many options. They would have to pay for a babysitter, which is money out of their own pocket, or maybe put them in daycare, which is even more expensive. Nicole Russel, a mother of 4 and someone who writes for theatlantic.com, says “ Many of us are now riddled with anxiety over whether we’ll send our kids back to school, even part-time, or keep them home. The idea that I might have to continue to work while facilitating another subpar semester of virtual learning is almost too much to bear. Even though COVID-19 cases have spiked where I live in Texas, I want to send my children back to school in the fall. I don’t want to have to repeat the spring, for my kids’ sake and my own. Schools simply need to find a way to make reopening safe.” She specifies that her and many other of her friends simply can not bear with this anymore. They are getting anxiety from their kids being home and not them, they just want them back in school. Nicole is very lucky because her work was very flexible with her children’s schedule change. A lot of other parents aren’t so lucky.

A lot of difficulty a lot of us would overlook is disabled children and online learning. Some teachers specialize in learning and working with disabled kids, but this online schooling is proving to be extremely difficult for them. First, for a lot of the children, it is very hard for them to concentrate. They are constantly distracted by anything due to their disability. While in school, the teachers were there to help them get their work done and do what needs to be done. While at home, their parents might not be around and if they are, most of them work and can’t help the child all of the time. This really is an issue for the teachers. They try their hardest to teach the kids and help them as best as they can, but not being in person is a challenge. Erica Fuhrman is a special ed teacher in a New Jersey school. She wrote for livescience.com and states, “The majority of children wouldn’t show up to the online Webex sessions, and those who did struggled to pay attention to a computer screen for more than 5 minutes. Many of these children, along with millions of other children across the U.S., depend on school not just for education but for school meals and a place to be looked after while their parents work.” Erica is only one of the many teachers who have these issues. The kids won’t pay attention and some won’t even come to the online meetings. The second problem Erica states is that these kids also depend on the school for meals. Some parents don’t have the expendable money for their children to eat lunch every single day, when they should be in school. They need to open up the schools so these parents have the money they need, and the time to go back to work.

Nationalacademies.org has a different approach to getting disabled children back to school. They weigh out the possible health risks compared to the benefits of going back to in person teachings. According to the national academies.org, “Opening schools will benefit families beyond providing education, including by supplying child care, school services, meals, and other family support. Without in-person instruction, schools risk children falling behind academically and exacerbating educational inequities.” They say that in person schooling will be more beneficial to parents, instead of posing a health risk. Children and teens of young ages have a much higher chance of surviving Covid and with taking the proper precautions with going back to school, they have a very small chance of contracting it. That being said, not going to school will harm teachers in doing their job, harm students grades and development, harm parents ability to work and make money and all together harming everyone’s mental state.

While learning and retaining information is important, so is students’ mental health. A vast majority of scientists and doctors want students to go back to in person school because online school is causing a lot of depression, anxiety and worse, suicides. While all three of these topics aren’t anything entirely new to teachers or students, they have most certainly risen over the past few months. According to washingtonpost.com, a teacher by the name of Carol Burris said, “students at risk can easily slip through cracks. Due to the isolation of remote learning, those cracks have become crevices. Anecdotally, pediatricians are reporting rises in depression, obesity, and stress disorders as well as young children having heart palpitations absent a physical cause.” Based on this information and the fact that more screen time, whether you are an adult or a child, can also result in health disorders, it becomes clear how online school is affecting the students.

Now that we have established the benefits of children going back to school, as well as benefits for the teachers and parents, the question isn’t when should we start, but how should we go back. Corona and this pandemic isn’t over simply because we want it to. We still have to abide by our government and follow their guidelines they put out. There are a few ways, however, that we can easily go back to school without having to break any guidelines or run the risk of kids getting Covid. We should be sending kids to school in masks, which they should be wearing all of the time, bigger schools should not be operating at full capacity, schools should be able to tell you to test whenever need be and you must sanitize before walking into any room. I believe that by following these easy guidelines, students will be able to attend school and not have to worry about catching Covid.

The first guideline that no one should have a problem with is the wearing of masks. We’ve been wearing masks for almost an entire year inside stores, at work and at school in the beginning of the school year. We are obligated to wear them and are not allowed to take them off unless absolutely necessary. Most people are ok with this and have no problem wearing a mask whenever need be. Wearing a mask in school, like we already do now, will help slow down the spread of Covid because we aren’t constantly talking face to face with each other. We won’t accidentally spit on each other or spread the disease. Another part of masks is also being six feet apart from each other at all times. Us being in school, some in half capacity some in full, means we are constantly next to people. This, we can not avoid. Walking in the hallway, full capacity or not, we will always be bumping into each other. What we can do, however, is sit six feet apart from each other in the classroom and try to avoid other people in the hallway as best as possible. Some schools have tried releasing certain classes at certain times so kids aren’t toppling over each other in the hallways. If this is a viable option for your school, this would definitely help.

While masks are a very important part of keeping kids safe in school, another important part is sanitization. Kids can easily bring their own hand sanitizers that they bought themselves, buy some kids may forget or simply can not afford it. That being said, schools should have hand sanitizing stations in front of stairwells, the gym and some classrooms as well. Teachers should also be equipped with hand sanitizers for themselves and some for their students. They should be sanitizing every time they enter a new room, just in case. But students should not be the main accuser of being not sanitary. Schools must take matters into their own hands to sanitize the school either once a week or as often as possible. Some schools, like Central Regional, have one day of the week, Wednesday where everyone stays home from school, so the janitors can sanitize the entire building very throughout. They should also be cleaning it daily after school and sanitizing it over the weekends while kids and teachers aren’t there. If these requirements are met, schools will be a much safer place for children to learn and so parents do not have to worry about their children getting sick.

While schools should have the freedom to choose to do what they want, some things should be mandatory for all schools across state lines or all across the country. For example, each school should, by law, have hand sanitizer in school at all times. Some things they should be able to choose, however, is whether or not they want to operate at full capacity, half capacity, or completely virtual. Some schools across the nation are completely virtual, which is the safest option, but also interferes with students learning. While kids can’t get Covid in school, they may not be motivated to do school work and in turn, their grades will plummet. Some schools, Central Regional for example, does half capacity. Two days of the week, students with last names A-L go in person, then Wednesday everyone is home, then M-Z has the last two days of school. This helps minimize the exposure between students, but also interferes with students learning because they can not see their teachers every single day. Some schools go everyday of the week. Whether or not this works, has not been completely confirmed yet, but many are trying it. Schools with bigger populations of children should not be doing this, because they have a much higher chance of Covid spreading throughout the school. More students means more exposure.

Schools could follow every single requirement I have just mentioned and still not be completely safe. A student outside of school could contract Covid and bring it into school without knowing. This means many kids would be exposed and possibly get infected. If this were to happen, schools should have the right to tell you you can not enter school again until you have one or two negative tests and quarantine for at least two weeks. I was exposed to someone who has tested positive for Corona, which means I may be infected. I have already gotten into contact with my school about this, and I Have been in quarantine since Thanksgiving. I have not gone to school, work or even the store for anything. I did just get tested on December 2nd, but that will not help with school quarantine. Central makes you stay out for two weeks regardless of if you come back positive or negative. This is smart, because my results could be negative, but I still have it. There are many reports of false negatives and positives, so just to be safe, Central makes us stay home. All in all, following these requirements would help students learn as much as possible at a steady rate, while also being safe in school. They can easily sanitize whenever they need to and can stay home if they have Corona, and still learn.

Hopefully governor Phill Murphy is able to contact me at some point so we may set up a meeting for him and I to talk. We need to discuss how we are going to implement these rules into our school system. Me being a student, I know exactly what my fellow students want and when they want it. I understand that Murphy wants the best for us, but he has no idea what students actually want. That is my job. I will be the voice for my fellow students, so we can get the education we deserve. We want to go back to school full time, we want to see our teachers, but we also want to be safe. I believe that by following these steps and requirements, we can easily come back to school without having to worry about the risk of Covid.

Sources

Nationalacademies.org, www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/07/schools-should-prioritize-reopening-in-fall-2020-especially-for-grades-k-5-while-weighing-risks-and-benefits.

This article is basically talking about k-5 and heavily implies kids with special needs. It’ll help the kids because they have a place to relieve their energy and in person teaching will help with not failing. It’ll help parents because the kids have \the care they need along with meals.

“Operating Schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html.

The CDC website has the restrictions for schools all over the country. Recently, AUgust, they updated what schools can and can’t do. A lot of restrictions are being lifted, but now Murphy is talking about closing our state again. Recently he just said we can not compete in sports that go beyond our state.

Saplakoglu, Yasemin. “Should Schools Reopen amid the Pandemic?” LiveScience, Purch, 21 July 2020, www.livescience.com/coronavirus-should-schools-reopen-fall.html.

This article specifically talks about disabled kids. When they were in schools, it was ok, but now that they are out it is extremely hard for her to teach. The kids do not want to listen. She also does not think the schools are too ready, but this article was written a few months ago.

Strauss, Valerie. “Perspective | Why Schools Must Find a Safe Way to Reopen for the Most Vulnerable Students — by a Veteran Educator.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 July 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/06/why-schools-must-find-safe-way-reopen-most-vulnerable-students-by-veteran-educator/.

Author stresses that having in person teaching is much better and more helpful to kids than online. We should be trying our absolute best to get kids back into the school routine, while also following COVID guidelines. guidance counselors could help a lot and should have a say in what goes on.

Harris, Douglas N. “When Should Schools Reopen Fully in-Person?” Brookings, Brookings, 28 Sept. 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/09/29/when-should-schools-reopen-fully-in-person/.

This source is very in the middle with this topic. The part I like the most is the topic about long term solutions that we don’t know about. Obviously we have no idea how long Corona will be here, so she has some long term ideas that could work if Corona goes on for a few years. She also talks a lot about mental health.

Mandavilli, Apoorva. “Citing Educational Risks, Scientific Panel Urges That Schools Reopen.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/health/coronavirus-schools-reopening.html.

a group of influential scientists are urging schools to open. Their main concern is mental health. Older students’ mental health is failing and causing a lot of suicides. Also a lot of younger students’ parents are having concerns because they have no way to take care of their kids when they get home. Most of them are at work.

“Reopening Schools Is Key to Unlocking the Full Potential of America’s Children.” The White House, The United States Government, 14 Aug. 2020, www.whitehouse.gov/articles/reopening-schools-key-unlocking-full-potential-americas-children/.

This source talks about children reaching their full potential. They are unable to do so if schools are closed, because they can’t experience everything they need. It is affecting their mental health, along with many others, and doing so will make the students suffer.

Russell, Nicole. “I Can’t Keep Doing This. Please Open the Schools.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 27 July 2020, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/please-open-schools/614605/.

This source’s main concern is younger children who have working parents. The parents can not do anything because they have no way of taking care of their children after school. Most work later shifts and have no one to watch them. What are they supposed to do? They need the schools open again.