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Local physician parents weigh in on back-to-school considerations in Ohio

Find out what doctors, who are also parents, are looking at when debating sending their kids back to school.

CLEVELAND — When it comes to deciding whether or not to send kids back to school, doctors who are also parents have a unique perspective. 

Dr. Amy Edwards is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist and University Hospitals and says she’s monitoring Ohio’s coronavirus numbers.

“As the numbers have gone up, up, up it does make me a little nervous for the potential for spread,” says Dr. Edwards.

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos is pushing for all schools to allow students back full time.

“There's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous,” says DeVos.

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Dr. Christine Alexander, Metro Health’s Family Medicine Chair says there is a risk sending her two kids back to school. She wants to know what schools are doing to reduce potential exposure.

“What are those individual schools doing to apply the guidelines? How are they preparing? What are they doing about face masking? What are they doing about cleaning,” questions Dr. Alexander.

“Both the measures that the school is taking plus how much virus is spreading in your community are two big factors to determine whether it’s a good idea to return to school,” says Dr. Edwards.

They’re also watching to see how school systems manage and monitor teachers and staff.

“I have not heard a lot about how schools intend to manage their faculty and keep their faculty separated from each other. That faculty-to-faculty spread is going to be a huge driver for outbreaks in schools,” says Dr. Edwards.

The doctors tell 3News they want to see a concrete plan for what happens if a student or a teacher contracts COVID-19 to make sure education can continue in the safest way possible.

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