After announcing earlier this month that schools across the country should reopen for in-person油learning regardless of whether they can implement all recommended COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the油 to help油schools油address the most important issues facing students and administrators after an unprecedented year spent learning remotely.油COVID remains at the top of the list of concerns, but there are additional matters schools need to confront油in order to油transition油successfully.
The Elementary and油Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER)油funds油allotted to油K-12油schools油through the American Rescue Plan油may be used油to油pay for many of these necessities.油Among them:油PPE, cleaning and sanitizing supplies needed for districts to maintain operations as the pandemic continues;油upgrading油HVAC systems油in油schools where those systems are in油disrepair, and油establishing emotional support油programs油for both油students and teachers油to油help ease the transition back to in-person learning.
While different districts may consider certain issues more pressing than others, here are 5 propositions being discussed as universal priorities for reopening throughout the country:
1. Encourage mask-wearing油and油physical油distancing.油The油K-12 operational strategy includes油consistently using prevention油measures油such as masks and physical distancing油of at least three feet, although油with individual states addressing the mask issue differently油it doesn’t appear there will be one universal plan. In some conservative states, lawmakers have banned districts from requiring masks despite the counsel of medical professionals. And measures for children too young to be vaccinated will likely油differ油from those taken in middle- and high-school classrooms,油which will be filled with both vaccinated and unvaccinated students.
2. Attend to students’ mental health as well as their physical health.油Trauma, anxiety and isolation over the past year have taken a toll on youngsters, and school districts油are taking油that into account as students return this fall. One Ohio school district, Hilliard City Schools in Columbus, has added seven new counselors and 10 more social workers, their Director of Student Well-Being,油.油Anxiety has always been high with this generation, Abraham said. With the pandemic, some students have become very comfortable with isolation and not having to deal with the anxiety that school or their peers bring. That’s what all districts are dealing with nowgiving them strategies to be able to油cope油with their anxiety and whatever mental health issues they’re struggling with. Last month, Iowa officials announced the state is launching a new pre-K-12 school mental health center that will expand training and resources that support mental health needs in schools. And the Miami-Dade County school district is exploring using federal油relief funds to hire more mental health clinicians as most of the district’s students return to in-person learning this fall.
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3. Provide SEL training to educators.油If teachers are to do their jobs effectively and provide emotional support to returning students, they, too, need support in place. A 2019 Education Week survey found that 78 percent of teachers feel it is part of their job to help students develop strong SEL skills, but only 40 percent felt油they油had adequate solutions and strategies to do so. Between油having to pivot and learn an entirely new way to teach last year,油concerns about油safeguarding油their own油health as well as their family’s, and油conflicts with parents over reopening policies, teachers油need油access to油mental health resources油as much as students do.
4. Incorporate ed-tech into the course of everyday learning.油It began out of necessityworking on油iPads油and Chromebooks, mastering new technology in order to stay connected while apartbut now education technology is as essential to curricula as textbooks.油The return to in-person learning will be a chance to pick back up the human connection between teachers and students who are not油communicating through油a screen油and simultaneously油allow for flexibility of learning through the ongoing mastery of tech tools, which can enable students to work at home while sick or late at night if that’s when they’re at their油best,油or油eliminate snow days by allowing teachers to conduct lessons online, for example.
5. Invest heavily in after-school programs.油According to , nearly three-quarters of after-school programs were forced to close due to the pandemic, and programs that remained open dealt with staffing shortages and rising costs for COVID-19-related cleaning and sanitizing, the latter of which exacerbated inequality in access to programming. Now, with the American Rescue Plan providing $500 billion to support young people outside school hours, This is a moment that calls for bold and significant investments in afterschool so that families can take advantage of these critical programs and ensure their children are in good hands, said David油Cicilline, U.S. Rep. for Rhode Island and co-chair of Afterschool Caucuses. The bottom line is that these programs work, and we should be doing everything we can to replicate them around the country.
