Question: Despite our protest, our superintendent [in Texas] is requiring teachers to report to school next week. What steps can I take to protect students and myself?

Answer: I’m sorry that teachers are being forced to do something they have protested. We talked about school reopening and risk a bit in previous posts, including Q&A of 7/28 #Private School and Q&A of 7/27 #School Reopening, and of course there’s more to be said. Two weeks ago, CDC released its “Indicators for Dynamic School Decision-Making,” which are aimed to help schools and communities plan and respond to COVID-19 (Table 1). As you’ll see, the key mitigation strategies for school reopening are those we’re already aware of (bullets are CDC’s suggestions; sub-bullets are my additional suggestions, most of which align with other CDC guidance). As much as possible, just have kids remember these key things: 1) Wear a Mask, 2) Keep your Distance, 3) Wash your Hands, and 4) Outside Gatherings are Safer than Inside Gatherings.

• Consistent mask wearing
  • As possible, get N95 masks for yourself. They are even more effective than cloth masks. And if not possible, your cloth mask is still good!
  • Consider keeping additional disposable masks on hand to provide to students if their own masks are ill-fitting or get gunky.
• Social distancing
  • Keep desks 6+ feet apart.
  • Keep students in small pods.
  • Avoid large gatherings (like eating in the cafeteria).
  • Stagger arrivals/departures.
  • Have class outside as much as possible!
• Hand hygiene
  • Make time for frequent hand washing.
  • Keep hand sanitizer available for students to use.
  • Teach students 20-second songs and the like to ensure that they spend enough time washing their hands.
  • Remind kids to keep their hands out of their mouths. (no nail biting!)
• Cleaning and disinfection
  • Keep disinfecting wipes in the classroom.
  • Wipe down high-use surfaces regularly.
  • Use gloves to wipe down high-use surfaces.
• Contact tracing
  • Ask students and their parents to participate in contact tracing efforts.
  • If available, ask students/parents/school personnel to use the Exposure Notification App (as discussed in Q&A of 9/22 #Apps)
• Students must stay home if they are sick!
  • Please ask students/parents/school personnel to get tested if they are feeling unwell or have been around a COVID positive person so that contact tracing and be enacted.
• Madeleine’s additional suggestions (do not fit in above buckets)
  • Since so much risk depends on local transmission trends, keep up with local transmission trends and consider integrating it into lessons. For state-trends, you can use covidtracking.com or this data visualization tool from Johns Hopkins or this rate of transmission (R0) estimate. For county-level data/trends, you can use data from the Texas Department of Health or from your county health department (probably most relevant).
  • HHS is rolling out point-of-use covid rapid testing (discussed in Q&A of 9/16 #Antigen Tests). Talk with your school nurse about getting point-of-care rapid tests for your school.
  • Remind kids not to yell or shout as it can propel the virus further (in case anyone is asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic).
  • Keep windows open as much as possible and try to ensure that your classroom gets as much fresh air as possible.

Table 1. Indicators for School Reopening (from CDC)