Cartoon: A shaky return to schools

When Alice Cooper sang “school’s out forever” from his 1972 hit, he didn’t really mean it, right? During the pandemic it’s certainly felt that way.

But things may be changing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for reopening schools, although it cannot force reopenings, and agency officials were careful to say they are not demanding that all U.S. schools reopen. They said in-person schooling can be done safely, especially at lower grade levels, and emphasized hand washing, disinfection of school facilities, diagnostic testing, and contact tracing to find new infections and separate infected people from others in a school. The CDC also stressed that the safest way to open schools is by making sure there is as little disease in a community as possible.

Becky Pringle, head of the nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, warned that schools that serve more vulnerable students in low-income communities may not be able to accommodate other key protections the CDC recommends.

Here in Philadelphia, deteriorating buildings pose quite a challenge. Teachers, students, and their families have serious concerns they would like to see addressed prior to returning to the classroom. Many structures have mold, asbestos, outdated HVAC units, and bathrooms without windows. Additional fans aren’t enough.

Mayor Jim Kenney and his administration remain focused on getting kids back into schools as soon as possible. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. feels that Philadelphia public schools are safe for children to return to in-person learning Feb. 22. “I can confidently say that our schools are ready to open with the proper safety protocols in place,” Hite said at a news conference at Nebinger Elementary in South Philadelphia. “The time for reopening is now.”

Yet the district remains in a standoff with its teachers’ union, which has directed teachers not to report to school buildings because of the COVID-19-related safety concerns.

The CDC announcement comes as schools across the country have been grappling with reopening safely for almost a year.

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