Debates turn emotional as schools decide how and if to open

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm.

The plans for the upcoming school year are taking shape by the day, and vary district to district, state to state.

In Florida, some school districts want students back in the classroom in early August, even though the virus is surging through communities.

And school officials said the resurgence of virus cases underway could shatter reopening plans before they’re even put in place.

And this year I get my own classroom, so I was looking forward to decorating it and all that,” she said.

Christina Higley, a parent in the Rochester suburb of Webster, said she started a Facebook group initially to demand answers and have a say in what school would look like, but the discussions there sparked a movement for reopening schools.

In Manatee County, Florida, the working plan is for all elementary students to return to school full time on Aug.

If a student tests positive for the virus in the new school year, classrooms or whole buildings would need to be disinfected, said Mike Barber, a district spokesman.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said it “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”.

The district sent a letter to parents that said it plans to use outdoor space when possible — a solution for only a few months a year, given Maine’s weather.

In order to keep kids a safe distance apart on school buses, districts will need more vehicles — an especially thorny issue for rural districts, where students travel vast distances.

“Nobody has really laid out a clear plan for how you’re going to keep kids safe, especially smaller kids who are not going to be able to social distance all day, and they’re going to touch things and take their mask off,” said Duncan Kirkwood, whose 9- and 11-year-old daughters attend the Charter School for Applied Technologies in Buffalo, New York