CLEVELAND — As states continue to come up with their plans on how to reopen, what to do about K-12 education has been at the forefront of questions. How can schools make up for the lost time from the COVID-19 pandemic? Should they use Saturday classes or year-round classes?
A Cleveland-based national school safety expert is looking beyond those issues and focusing on getting ready for reentry from an operational perspective. Kenneth Trump is president of National School Safety and Security Services. He is seeking to assist schools nationwide in focusing on the right questions and planning steps for safe operational reentry for students and staff.
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"Many of the planning discussions for school reopening have been understandably focused on academics. We are finding fewer discussions about how facilities staff will stock supplies and perform cleaning, what school bus seating and routing will look like, how parents volunteer visitor management and emergency planning drills will change, and other operational aspects of COVID-19 school reentry implications," said Trump in a statement.
According to Trump, conversations should be focused on operational issues such as:
- Will school bus drivers greet students at their stops wearing masks and offering on-board hand sanitizer dispensers or will we train them to address student and parental anxiety, and social-emotional needs? Will seating protocols have to change due to COVID-19?
- Will students and staff be directed to wear masks? How will that be enforced?
- What does a "deep clean" and "disinfecting" really mean for schools? Will the supply chain be able to supply sanitizer, soap, towels, and other cleaning supplies to all of our schools?
- How will school nurses deal with children and staff having psychosomatic health episodes? Are the schools adequately staffed with school health professionals to manage these needs? What if your school has no full-time nurse or health aide at all —who will step in and how are they to be trained?
- Will schools be prepared to record and track mass illness reports and absences to detect potential clusters of health concerns?
- How will principals manage large numbers of teacher and/or support staff absences for those who are afraid to return the first week of school? Will there be enough substitute teachers? Who will cover for support staff (food services, office staff, campus safety, etc.) who call off?
- What protocols (seating, eating, etc.) will need to be changed for breakfast and lunch programs?
- How will schools conduct lockdown drills by putting kids in "hard corners" when social distancing calls for them to be separated six feet apart?
- How will anticipated budget cuts disproportionately affect support staff and how will the resulting gaps be managed?
- How will these issues be communicated to parents?
Trump adds that waiting until the week before schools reopen will not suffice. "The social, emotional, physical, and educational well-being of students and staff on their first day of return to school will best be determined by the success of school leaders’ planning today," he adds.