The perspective of someone making the decision to reopen schools - by Joe Clausi

The perspective of someone making the decision to reopen schools. 

I, by nature, am in the middle. I walk that fine line with the best of them. I’ve always been from friend groups to family disputes, to my career as a principal. In my current role, I am the deciding factor as to what we do and when we do it, as my site is a stand alone LEA (local Education Agency) meaning we operate independently from other districts. 

In a situation like now, it means I have the control of our school’s plan. I wrote it. I know it’s super safe and airs on the side of caution completely. I have staff in sensitive groups, I have students in the same groups, and I am in one myself. 

What we’ve decided to do, was play it safe and make outside school as much as possible. We are in SoCal, and it never rains there, so we can. Why not use this to my advantage? We’ve all come to agree that being outside in a time like now, is better than being inside. As numbers everywhere around me are showing improvement, we’re beginning to get pushed to reopen. 

My question is, why? Why are we being pushed to reopen as quickly as possible? Schools have certainly broadened their definitions these past few months, from educational institutions, to babysitters, to outlets for regular food, to means of gaining communication, to support for almost anything someone from that school’s community may be feeling or experiencing. We’ve done so virtually pretty well. My school alone saved 20 times the amount we would have, on spending for services - most of which we were still charged for, even though we didn’t use them or need them. So, schools are also defined as a stimulus for the economy. 

But when offices that are supportive to school districts, are not gaining enough - they push. When businesses that rely on schools to pay for the services that the school would rather not provide and it’s easier to out source, and schools are realizing that they don’t need those services like they had in the past - why push to restart them? When does a school - go back to focusing on students, teachers, and learning? 

Leadership from many areas were forced to watch a conservative group of educators all but write off the deadly virus, saying their teacher’s union also didn’t put up a fuss about returning. Can it be that this district has it all figured out and everyone is back in a covid free environment? They are reporting out a stasis in cases, but didn’t describe their testing. They also aren’t having any transportation provided for students - so right away it seems to forget about the needs of students, and just skips over that crucial factor of a schools functioning system - transportation. That said, what about testing everyone every morning and what is done with those results? What about when illnesses are reported, or cases reported, what happens next? 

Why must the needs of others, whose jobs rely on schools paying for their services, outweigh the safety of those that attend the school? As the person in charge of making that decision - I say I don’t care about your jobs, your positions, what you do for a living and how well you’ve done it in the past - the world is changing, it has changed already. Pushing to go back to what it was knowing their is a risk, is also like saying that the lives of those going back - are at risk as well, but that the price we’ll have to pay if we do.

I’m at a cross roads, where those I looked up to for guidance are seeming to have drank the kool aid. I wonder if they would go back at a time like now? Perhaps they should move their offices to a school, and re-remember what that is like...