PRESS EDITORIAL: A never-before challenge: how to reopen schools

A sun-drenched Sunday in downtown Port Washington freshened by the city’s signature lake breeze. Hundreds of people lining Franklin Street, standing on crowded sidewalks, sitting in ranks of lawn chairs placed at curbs earlier to reserve a front row view, cheering and clapping as nearly 200 vehicles bearing signs and decorations passed. In the vehicles, teenagers, many in caps and gowns, exuberantly and proudly celebrating a milestone achievement.           

 It was Port Washington High School’s version of commencement in the time of pandemic—a joyous parade of new graduates.

The audience for this unprecedented event was not just a gathering of proud parents and grandparents, but an eclectic assembly of community members. It was not only a tribute to the graduates, but also a resounding affirmation of the importance of schools as fundamental institutions of the community.

Those institutions are about to be challenged as never before as schools shuttered since March to limit the spread of the coronavirus attempt to restart. Only someone caught up in the euphoria of reopening bars, restaurants and stores at the stroke of the Supreme Court decision that ended Wisconsin’s safer-at-home restrictions could think this will be easy.

No, not easy, but nonetheless imperative. It has been recognized here by teachers, administrators and school boards in Ozaukee County and confirmed nationally: Remote online instruction of students at home is not an adequate substitute for face-to-face teaching in schools. Students are falling behind.

The average student could have lost more than a third of the expected progress in reading and math by the time the new school year starts, according to an analysis by the educational research organization NWEA. The kids need to go back to school.

How to balance that with the need to make schools the safe environment parents expect when they send their children to be educated is the dilemma facing school authorities. Parents want their children back in schools, to catch up on learning and perhaps to restore normality to homes with working adults, but they are worried.

A new USA Today poll found that six in 10 parents are likely to continue home schooling instead of letting their children attend school. Some teachers are reluctant as well; the same poll found that 20% of teachers in the country are unlikely to return to their classrooms until the virus risk is reduced.

The back-to-school challenges are daunting, among them: Finding space to provide adequate separation of students. Adding school bus runs to limit crowding. Testing students and teachers for Covid-19. Possibly closing schools again if there are positive tests or if the virus resurges in the area. Meeting increased needs for counseling students affected emotionally by the disruption of their lives. Sanitizing the scores of rooms and vast spaces of school buildings. Providing masks and other protective equipment if deemed needed.

All of this on top of the essential need to make up for lost learning.

The pressure on school officials is enormous, not only in the difficulty of their educational tasks and finding ways to pay for them, but in satisfying the expectations of the public they serve. Remedies that may not be popular could be needed. Some school districts, for example, are considering sending children to school in alternating shifts of a few days each week to limit building crowding.

Ozaukee school leaders cannot be in this alone. They especially need the help of the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department and other health sources, with clear lines of communication for science-based information on the evolving virus threat.

And they must encourage and consider the views of parents. They, after all, will be the final arbiters of whether the schools are safe enough for their children.