Schools shouldn’t open unless they have effective plans to prevent infection | Opinion

COVID-19 school cleaning op-ed

Given the lack of strong federal guidance, The New Jersey Work Environment Council, Healthy Schools Now coalition and the national Healthy Schools Network released A Call to Action. It calls on states to produce authoritative school infection, prevention, and control plans which local schools can adopt.

By Heather Sorge and Elizabeth Smith

There have been nearly 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, and this virus has no intention of going away anytime soon.

As New Jersey plans to reopen schools, health and safety must be at the forefront. We cannot reopen schools without strong health and safety measures in place to protect our students and school staff.

Given the lack of strong federal guidance, The New Jersey Work Environment Council, Healthy Schools Now coalition and the national Healthy Schools Network released A Call to Action. It calls on states to produce authoritative school infection, prevention, and control plans which local schools can adopt.

This report, backed by science and developed alongside health experts, school advocates, and worker representatives is the first report that simultaneously prioritizes school staff and student’s health.

On average, New Jersey’s 2,500 school buildings are 50-years-old and are four times more densely populated than office buildings, often with poor indoor air quality and little ventilation making it very difficult to social distance and maintain adequate fresh air. In addition, many districts lack access to clean, uncontaminated water and have inadequate plumbing.

Alone, these conditions pose health risks; introducing COVID-19 into poor conditions such as these can make this deadly virus spread even faster. For districts unable to meet social distancing and other health and safety guidance due to overcrowding and financial constraints, the challenges are even greater, putting those staff and students at unimaginable risk.

“This is a critical time in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Putting our children, who are 100 percent of our country’s future at risk with premature or unsafe openings, would be a mistake of historically tragic consequences,” said Claire Barnett, executive director of the New York-based Healthy Schools Network and Coordinator of the national Coalition for Healthier Schools. “Adding to our concern, we are acutely aware that it is Black, Latinx, and Native American and other poor children and working families that will continue to face the disproportionate consequences of the pandemic.”

So, how can we ensure our schools open safely?

The following are a few of the recommendations contained in the report:

● Our school buildings, having been closed for months, must undergo pre-opening maintenance to ensure building safety.

● Districts must develop reopening plans with stakeholder input from school nurses, staff, parents, etc., followed by transparency, communication and training. Stakeholder input is critical to the success of these plans as parents and community input is invaluable. This open dialogue is needed to develop trust and foster positive relationships within the district, something that is crucial when it comes to the health and safety of our children.

Across the country, schools struggle to implement social distancing, cleaning, and masking guidelines. A classroom which once held twenty students’ desks now holds six. Where do schools, already struggling with overcrowding, find room to not only social distance students, but store the excess furniture which no longer fits in the school? Many districts will store furniture in damp, moldy basements, which sets schools up for future health issues. We must ensure that we take the necessary steps now to prevent future health issues by addressing building health.

School staff, understandably apprehensive to return, must rely on districts to provide an exceptional level of cleaning and planning.

● Each district must train and prepare all school staff to address the virus and understand the district's plan.

● Schools must secure and train qualified substitute educators ahead of time to fill in for staff who fall ill so that the district plan can continue to be followed.

● Custodial staff must be given safe, approved cleaners, proper PPE, and training to take on the daunting task of cleaning our school facilities during this health crisis.

● It is critical that districts convey that only approved cleaners can be used in schools and that staff and students can not bring unauthorized cleaners into the building from home. Using unapproved cleaners and sanitizers, mixing cleaners, improperly storing chemicals and allowing students to use anything beyond soap and water can cause serious injury and even death.

● Ensure bus safety by allowing drivers to focus on transporting students by providing an additional staff member to address social distancing and masking when appropriate.

These are just a few of the hundreds of issues every district is expected to individually address. Unfortunately, the only way to know how well a district's plan will work will be to test it out on our children and educators. A huge burden for every school board and administration to bear, we absolutely have to get this right the first time.

We call on Governor Murphy, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health to develop a comprehensive school infection, prevention, and control plan that districts can adopt with some degree of flexibility.

We would much prefer to see our schools take the necessary time to reopen, ensuring that every possible safety measure is in place in every district, as opposed to rushing to a return to “normalcy” only to fail. The cost is far too great.

Heather Sorge, an organizer for the NJ Work Environment Council, coordinates the Healthy Schools Now campaign.

Elizabeth Smith is the executive director, on the statewide Education Organizing Committee and a member of the Healthy Schools Now Campaign.

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