Social distancing dividers for students are seen in a classroom at St. Benedict School, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Montebello, near Los Angeles, California, US, July 14, 2020 (PHOTO / AGENCIES)
The mounting number of novel coronavirus cases in many US states and the unwillingness of parents and school officials to put children in possible danger of contracting and passing on the coronavirus are derailing US President Donald Trump's demand that all public schools must reopen.
Schools are either reopening for autumn, staying completely shut, turning to online teaching or offering a mix of classroom and virtual learning. The country's largest public-school districts, New York with 1.1 million students and Los Angeles with about 735,000, will not fully reopen schools.
The country's largest public-school districts, New York with 1.1 million students and Los Angeles with about 735,000, will not fully reopen schools
The Trump administration has made the reopening of schools one of its main priorities as the president seeks to restart the economy in the face of the latest surge in coronavirus cases with less than four months to go until the presidential election.
"If we don't reopen the schools," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said, "that would be a setback to a true economic recovery".
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The White House and administration officials have repeatedly insisted that the country's schools and colleges must physically reopen classes and that online instruction, fully or partially, is not an appropriate alternative. Trump has even threatened to withhold federal aid from schools that do not physically reopen.
Safety concerns
He has also berated online learning and the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on reopening schools as too "tough" and "expensive".
The Trump administration has been pushing to reopen schools on the premise that children under 18 are at very low risk if they contract the virus.
While it is unclear how susceptible children are to getting the virus and transmitting it to others, many parents fear for the safety of their children, and teachers also fear for their own safety.
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The New York Times reported on Saturday that a new large study from South Korea showed that children younger than 10 transmit the virus to others much less often than adults do, but the risk is not zero. Those between the ages of 10 and 19 can spread the virus at least as well as adults do, according to the study, the Times reported.
"I fear that there has been this sense that kids just won't get infected or don't get infected in the same way as adults and therefore, they're almost like a bubbled population," Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota, told the Times.
"There will be transmission," Osterholm said. "What we have to do is accept that now and include that in our plans."
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said schools will reopen for at least some in-person instruction in the autumn. Proposing three models of staggered in-person instruction, De Blasio's plan would allow for in-person attendance to range from one to three days a week. And students will take classes remotely on the other days.
He also announced that the city will provide free child care to 100,000 students when schools reopen. The city aims to provide relief for working parents who either can't afford to stay home or cannot find child care for the days that students are not in school for in-person learning.
In California, where cases are surging and the state is returning to lockdowns of bars, restaurants and offices, Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday announced the state will require schools in counties with high rates of infections to keep schools shut until they can meet public health standards.
Los Angeles and San Diego schools will only teach online this autumn.
