School districts that are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 have been not exactly been following the CDC reopening schools guidelines, and some are going beyond what the CDC has outlined. Parents everywhere are faced with a difficult choice right now, they know that their children need to be back in school, but they are worried about their health in regards to the global pandemic that is still going on. This is particularly true for parents who find themselves in one of the “red zones” for COVID. Areas that are showing the highest amount of transmission.
According to US News, parents may need a little more reassurance when a recent analysis is showing that schools in the red zone are not falling within the guidelines when it comes to the number of children in the school. This can make measures like social distancing hard to maintain when there are too many students in the school building.
Specifically, when we look at the US’s fifth-largest school district, Miami-Dade County in Florida, they stated that they have been preparing for a long time. The superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, said that they began their plan for reopening almost as soon as they were shut down in March of 2020.
Miami-Dade has been allowing students to come back into the classroom since October. Even though parents had the option to keep their student’s home and learning virtually, 48% of parents choose to send their children back to school. It was also pointed out that when you step outside of the schools, people are not following the guidelines.
"We began our preparation for a reopening almost as soon as we shut down the schools back in March of 2020," Alberto Carvalho says. "We felt from the very beginning that some parents had varying levels of apprehension, certain parents had some degree of workforce flexibility, some parents were declaring underlying health conditions, as were members of our workforce. Considering all those factors, we felt that we needed to give parents choices."
Officials are stating that they do not have a “COVID school problem,” they have a “COVID community problem.” They are not the only school district that is overstepping their boundaries with the precautions.
According to the analysis of the 20 biggest school districts, only two of them are operating virtually, with no plans on reopening. Ten of the schools are completely open, with kindergarten to grade 12 operating 5 days a week. This is a lot higher than what the CDC has deemed as safe.
According to CNN, 89% of all the children living in the US are located in the “red zones,” and this is a concern for the reopening of schools. There are claims that the reopening of schools has been made a “political issue,” when schools are capable at operating and keeping the students safe. In regards to the latest CDC school reopening guidelines, Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis said, “We have been open, we will remain open and we are not turning back.”
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