Reopening Schools: "Will my child be safe?"
There has been much debate across the country over the past several days on what school reopening should look like on a practical level.
Parents of special needs children are faced with competing perspectives and demands, such as their child’s own medical fragility; the underlying health conditions of their child’s primary caretaker; the effectiveness of remote learning; the disruption of reopening and closing again in the event of a resurgence; flexibility or inflexibility of work schedules; and the availability of affordable, reliable child care or lack thereof.
The overarching question, of course, is, ‘Will my child be safe?”
Last week, various news outlets released an internal document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) intended to guide school administrators on their emergency response plans. In that report, mitigation strategies were not limited solely to the school environment. The report acknowledged the interrelationship of government, businesses, workplaces, and homes in maintaining safety for all members of the school community:
Appropriate cleaning and disinfection protocols should be employed in public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools, and homes;
Students and staff members should wear face coverings outside of the home when social distancing is not possible and wash hands in accordance with CDC guidance; and
Students and staff should also continue to practice physical distancing in their everyday lives in accordance with CDC guidance.
The success of any school reopening plan is not only reliant on the mitigation strategies exercised by our schools, but also the steps that individual community members take each day to keep themselves and others safe. We are indeed still in this together.
If you’re interested in learning more about how MSR Legal can help prepare your special needs child for the eventual reopening of schools, book a virtual consultation on my website, https://www.MSRLegal.ORG/Book-Your-Consultation . This summer, follow @MSRLegalConsulting on Instagram where I will continue posting about the evolving landscape of special education in the wake of Covid-19.
Enjoy the week ahead,
Oroma
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