To the Editor:
Re “Reopening Schools Will Be a Huge Job” (editorial, July 11):
I graduated from high school a month ago. I know that distance learning is ineffective and bolsters inequalities. I want more than anything for kids to be able to return to school in the fall. However, this editorial doesn’t adequately account for the realities of how schools actually function and the concerns teachers have for their safety.
You say that schools need more space. At my high school of 3,000 students, you can’t just create space. The classrooms are small, the hallways are skinny and the bathrooms are cramped. The gyms and outdoor areas are already used for physical education classes.
Even if you separate students during school, no one will be forcing them to separate outside school hours. This puts school staff at risk. It’s not fair to ask teachers to place their lives on the line in order to fast-track a return to normalcy.
I understand that keeping schools closed hurts kids and working parents, but many schools were closed when there were fewer than 10,000 U.S. cases. Does it really make sense to open them now that there are more than 3.5 million?
Rachel Alper
Berkeley, Calif.
To the Editor:
As a recently retired teacher and administrator at the high school and district level, I propose that high schools operate virtually, and that the high school buildings be used to provide the space necessary for safer in-person schooling for younger children.
One of the main drivers of the need to reopen schools is the need to enable parents to work, and most high-school-age students can be safely left home without parental supervision.
The virtual format for high school is certainly not ideal. But under the circumstances, this proposal would establish a sensible balance among the various concerns.
Marc Gold
Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
To the Editor:
I wholeheartedly agree that public schools need to open in September for all the stated reasons. In New York City, why can’t the city look into using the recently closed Catholic schools? And many other Catholic schools are underutilized. Renting in these already existing schools would benefit both the school system and the diocese.
Marie Patanio
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
Are you kidding? Open-air fall classes?
I grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and believe me, there were a lot of years when we had one or two feet of snow on the ground and temperatures in the 20s in November — and even in October! I remember many a year when I trick-or-treated in my snowsuit. And you think you can teach outdoors in that environment?
Then there’s the Sun Belt states. For the past 50 years I’ve lived in New Orleans, where fall temps can be — and often are — in the upper 80s to low 90s with 80 to 90 percent humidity through October. November and December often bring lots of rain and flooding. And finally, has anyone thought about how you would protect teachers and students from the threat of tornadoes, which are also more common than ever, especially in the South?
You might get by with this in San Diego, but not in many other places.
Michael A. Marullo
St. Rose, La.
To the Editor:
I was simply gobsmacked by the arguments the editorial board presented for opening the schools in the fall. The perennially underfunded public school system, which struggles to fund regular and special education in a typical year, will not be able to organize and fund transitional classrooms in a matter of weeks.
Teaching outside or in public spaces without adequate access to desks, equipment or technology could be even worse than teaching online. As the country debates a return to school this fall, ask teachers — not politicians or journalists — what needs to be done to reopen the schools. Then fully fund it.
Carri Stuhr
St. Paul, Minn.
To the Editor:
Your editorial about what needs to happen to reopen schools is absolutely correct, and obvious to any of us who have seen the inside of a school recently. States cannot reopen schools without the extra money and extra space. If they cannot get help from the government, could industry perhaps pitch in and make sure that this current generation of future workers has a future?
Mary Stevenson
Kent, Wash.
To the Editor:
Yes, there’s no question that our children will learn more in a live classroom than at home. But maybe a better question would be: Will they learn more in their own home versus their hospital bed?
William Raffel
Naples, Fla.