Too little, and way too soon
On December 21, Governor Jay Inslee announced updated guidelines for reopening in-person classes at K-12 schools. Under the plan, counties with a 14-day average greater than 350 cases/100,000 population, and with positivity rates greater than 10% would be able to reopen. This new plan he says, is based on recent data showing dramatic drops in disease transmission when safety measures are put in place.
The following Friday, the Tacoma School District jumped on board, announcing limited classes for in-person learning starting January 19. Beginning with kindergartners in groups of up to fifteen students, the plan will expand over the course of the following month to include preschool and then later, first and second graders.
The key principles of the Governor’s new plan, are excluding sick people through screening, using cohorts, using social distancing, handwashing, wearing masks and a number of other now standard measures.
Missing from the Governor’s plan is mandatory coronavirus testing. There’s no requirement students/staff must provide negative test results before starting school initially. And there’s no requirement for surveillance testing during school. Testing under the plan, is voluntary when and if used; parents may opt out, at will.
This approach provides a stark contrast to schools which have successfully reopened for in-person learning.
One good example are New York State’s schools. The reopening plan developed under Gov. Andrew Cuomo provides that students must show a negative test result before being allowed in school. The plan also requires mandatory surveillance testing for 25% of the school community (students, teachers, staff) every week. Students failing to submit to testing are required to use remote learning, with very narrow exceptions. It should be noted their current positivity rate is about 6.1%. There are nearly 2.8 million students in New York’s K-12 schools. Continue reading “Inslee’s plan for in-person school”