Need Help Deciding On In-Person School?

This blog is posted with the understanding that the school situation during the Covid-19 pandemic is ever evolving as new information and policies are shared.

While policy approaches vary, both across and within countries, one of the most challenging problems is the  disparity among different family situations:

• Some parents are in dire financial straits and desperate to have their child in school so they can to go work; they cannot afford to pay for supervision and/or someone to help provide online instruction. Others can manage nicely or can even hire private tutors.
• Many families rely on schools to provide meals, or they have a child with special needs. For them, school services are a critical lifeline that goes beyond education. There are others who are not as seriously impacted by missing out on school services.
• Families often lack suitable computers, printers, and hi-speed internet at home for virtual classes. Meanwhile some have everything they need and are moving ahead smoothly with their education.
• Some students are not visual learners and struggle with online lessons. Others thrive on computer-based learning.

In some areas, schools are presently closed and there is no choice available for the coming month(s). In others, a hybrid or in-person only situation is in place. We know some schools will open and then suddenly close because a student or staff tested positive. As the saying goes, “It’s complicated.” h

With all this in mind, we share an in-depth article that contains advice offered by Dr. Elisa Song, a pediatrician whose two school-aged children were hit with the virus. Parents will find a great deal of information and can see what applies to their situation.

Here’s an excerpt from “Reopening a School in the Pandemic,” with a link to the full article:

Dr. Elisa Song: As the start of the 2020-21 school year rapidly approaches, many of you have asked how I think schools should re-open.

As a pediatrician who has cared for patients with COVID-19, a parent of 2 school-age children, and a mother of 2 children who had COVID-19 (1 of whom was hospitalized and had all the signs of possibly heading toward MIS-C), I have a unique perspective that I want to share.

Know that this is my opinion, based on the limited yet emerging data we have about COVID-19 in kids, my personal and clinical experiences as a mother and pediatrician, and the reality we’re living in – which at the moment includes a surge in COVID-19 cases in most states, and a continued lack of adequate testing capacity for symptomatic and exposed individuals.

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