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 | | The New York Times |
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 | | How will school look this year?Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times |
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It's back-to-school time across the country, and this year, things look, well, normal. |
Many school districts across the U.S. have lifted mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other Covid measures. Classrooms in 2022 will probably look more prepandemic than at any point during the last two years, even as more contagious variants continue to circulate throughout the country. |
For a look at the school year, I spoke to three of my colleagues: Sarah Mervosh covers education, Jessica Grose writes the On Parenting newsletter and Apoorva Mandavilli covers infectious disease and global health. |
What does back-to-school look like this year? |
Sarah: There is a real urgency around getting school back to normal. Very few school districts are requiring masks — fewer than 3 percent among the top 500 school districts in the country, according to data from Burbio. |
This is a reflection of the state of the pandemic and the political moment. The risk of serious illness in children is low, the vast majority of American children have had Covid at least once and vaccines for children are available for parents who choose them. At the same time, research is showing that the pandemic and remote learning had profound effects on children's learning and emotional well-being, so there seems to be a real recognition, even more so than last year, that getting school back to normal is a priority. |
What about vaccine mandates? |
Sarah: There is little push to make Covid vaccines mandatory for students, in part because there is not wide support among parents. Washington, D.C., is one of the few places we've seen that has gone through with a requirement for older students to get vaccinated. But in most places, students will not be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19. |
How are kids doing academically? |
Sarah: Most students are back to learning at a normal pace. But they have not caught up. This is the case for students of all backgrounds. But we also know that the pandemic's disruptions were not shared equally and that remote learning widened existing disparities in education. Low-income students and Black and Hispanic students were more likely to spend more time learning remotely and will need support to help make up that extra ground. Millions of dollars of federal money are being invested to try to catch kids up. |
What are the other ripple effects from the pandemic? |
Sarah: Students experienced huge disruptions and traumas during the pandemic, and mental health continues to be a big issue. A lot of school districts have hired extra counselors with their federal money. |
Some educators are also feeling the fallout from the intense political focus on schools. During the pandemic, school board meetings became battlegrounds for fights over whether schools should be open or closed, masks vs. no masks, often falling along party lines. Now, we are seeing this more with debates over curriculum and the teaching of race and gender in schools. |
Jessica: There are large swaths of the country where, for a long time, the pandemic has been over. Obviously, it's not over, but schools have been very much back to "normal." In major cities where there are have been a lot of Covid restrictions, I would say, it's idiosyncratic. But even there, I think the overarching feeling is it's a desire to get back to some version of normal. |
I think a lot of folks are feeling like their kids have just missed out on so much, and it's been draining for their mental health and for their happiness. From my reporting, the top Covid issue among a lot of parents is no longer sickness from the virus, it's the social and emotional issues their kids are having. |
What's the latest on transmission in schools? |
Apoorva: What we know about transmission in schools is still what we knew before, which is that children can and do spread the virus, even if it is less often than adults. So it's still important for parents to keep their children at home if they show any symptoms of being ill or have tested positive for the virus. |
Ventilation in schools is going to be even more important this fall, simply because the variants that are circulating are more contagious. But, in general, the precautions remain the same: Mask when cases go up and whenever possible, test if you see symptoms and keep your child at home if they're infected. If your child is at particular risk, you may still want to consider having them continue to wear a mask. |
What should parents know about monkeypox? |
Apoorva: Most children are not at risk of monkeypox. So far, 99 percent of the people who have had monkeypox are men who have sex with men. So I would urge parents to be aware, but to not panic. We don't know a ton about transmission of the virus beyond the fact that it spreads by very close contact. In theory, kids sometimes have very close contact, especially younger children. But, again, I don't think that we're seeing the kind of cases in children that should cause parents to worry. At least not yet. |
As a parent, how are you feeling about this year? |
Jessica: The best thing I can do for my kids is make sure they're vaccinated, so my kids are. When the mask mandate dropped here in New York City, I left it up to them. My little one, who basically had no memory of school without the pandemic, was really excited to not wear a mask. And I shared that excitement with her. When you're learning to read, and you're just learning how to socialize, a mask can be a real hindrance. |
Apoorva: In general, I'm less worried than I used to be, because my kids are vaccinated, boosted and have had Covid once. But if we start to hear of cases in school again, I will ask them to start wearing masks again. |
We asked readers how they're feeling at the start of this school year. Thanks to everyone who shared their feelings with us. |
"I can't wait for my son to be in school, with its firm schedules and supportive staff. When you're the parent of a special-needs kid, you are aware of your inadequacy when you're up against the big stuff. People are trained to do it better. My kid is better when he is in school every day. Last year was his first year in this school, and he was hesitant to even enter the building the first week. This year, he's excited to see his buddies again; he's told us he'll run right in." — Molly Bloom, New York. N.Y. |
"I feel weary. Gone is the typical enthusiasm for the start of the year for myself and my son. The last few years have been hard on him, and me. He doesn't like school anymore, and he's only in second grade." — Jenn, Raleigh, N.C. |
"I'm a teacher. It's great to be back to normal, and I'm hopeful this year will be as normal as any prepandemic year. That being said, if a virus outbreak occurs, I hope that my school's parents and administration will recognize the need to return to safety protocols. Otherwise, I'm afraid more teachers will leave the profession and make the job intolerable for those who remain." — Lauren Upadhyay, New York, N.Y. |
"I'm hoping my children will be in school consistently this year. The uncertainty of last-minute class and school closures kept my life on hold. Every night, they hoped to have Covid so they wouldn't have to go to school, and I hoped they wouldn't. Without the structure and routine of daily school, my kids missed out on a lot, both academically and emotionally. I'm dreading the end of summer; I will miss all the fun late nights and morning lie-ins — those were the best parts of Covid." — Leora Lambert, Ra'anana, Israel |
"I'm a middle school principal and a mother to two high school sons. For this upcoming school year, I wish for schools to return to being a place of unity and community instead of divisiveness and suspicion. Our whole nation could benefit from assuming schools and educators have good intentions. And, if there's anything we can consistently expect from youth, it's optimism for the future and a drive to make things better for future generations." — Gennifre Hartman, Bozeman, Mont. |
What else we're following |
| Thanks for reading. I'll be back Friday — Jonathan |
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