Kids are excited to go back to school!  They are tired of the required physical distancing and can’t wait to see their friends again.  Parents are in the same boat, but aware that there will be changes with how things will be done when schools are (hopefully) back in session in the fall.  Here are some things to expect with new requirements.

Continued online teaching (remote learning)

The more classes students have, the more people they will be interacting with on a daily basis. Because of this, these students will be more likely to become infected with Covid-19 and/or transmit it to others.  Jr High and High School students will most likely continue to be taught online for this reason when school starts up in the fall. Preschool and elementary schools have a single classroom thus keeping the number of interactions people have to a minimum (15-30 kids per classroom).

Keeping classes together

Recess and lunchtime will most likely be staggered so that classrooms don’t intermingle.  This severely restricts the social interactions that students are used to in school.  It could be that students won’t even be allowed to play near each other to ensure physical distancing.  New games may need to be created that kids can play while maintaining a distance of 6ft from each other.  As anyone with a child knows, keeping them from touching one another will be a big challenge.

Staggered school schedules

To further restrict the number of interactions that students have schools may resort to an A day and a B day where half of the students in a class come at a time.  This would also allow for desks to be spread farther apart, hopefully 6 feet or father from each other.  This inevitably would require teachers to have more work, teaching full time while also making sure that the students at home will have assignments to work on while not in class.

Bus transportation will change

With staggered schedules this would allow for the population in the busses to drop.  At a minimum students would need to sit no more than 1 per seat if not every other seat.  Along with this they would be required to wear a mask during the entire bus ride.  It very likely that there may be too many students needing rides to allow physical distancing and they will require a car ride to school.

Increased need for daycare

With the possibility of schools having staggered schedules, parents of elementary and preschool students will need to find daycare for their children on their off days or they will need to stay home with them.  These daycares will hopefully remain small to decrease the likelihood of transmission.

References

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/842528906/what-it-might-look-like-to-safely-reopen-schools

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/us/coronavirus-schools-reopening-plans/index.html

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