Esay on Reopening Schools: A Challenging Decision for Governments.

The world is experiencing various challenges when the decision to re-open schools arises. For instance, governments and policymakers are evaluating the risks of re-opening educational institutions against the potential consequences of keeping them closed and economic recovery. It has become challenging to convince parents and guardians that this is the right time to send children to schools. The US is counting the cost that the current pandemic has brought, and it has become a challenging decision for policymakers to decide on whether to reopen schools. As a result, the government has failed to settle on an appropriate approach that might favor every stakeholder in the education system. There is a need to evaluate the risks of both re-opening schools and keeping them closed. Some parents have rejected the government’s plans to re-open schools due to the risks that the decision might pose. In other countries, some parents have kept their children at home even though the government has announced the re-opening of schools. While many perceive it is an ideal economic decision to re-open schools during the fall, there is need to wait until the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic has subsided since a small fraction of infected people might expose others to the virus, thus creating liability to the school and severe economic implications.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Students and teachers are afraid to report back to school and continue working because of the risk of being exposed and situations that can expose their health and that of their loved ones. The public health experts have cautioned that re-opening educational institutions in areas where cases are increasing will lead to higher of COVID-19 infections (Swaby and Svitek). For instance, the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College expressed that what it takes for an entire community to be infected is one or two teachers, staff, or parents (Swaby and Svitek). Also, schools should be accountable of any situation because the state must provide a vaccine to the students and staff if there is need to resume learning. Some schools, however, lack the funding and other resource to administer this vaccine. As a result, it can cause a severe implication on the schools and their liability. Due to higher number of students, there might higher infections and there will be cases where children might die, leading to a significant liability on schools (Modan). Schools will be liable if they require students and staff to attend in person but fail to comply with the safety guidelines, which may prompt insurance refusing coverage.

Schools remaining closed puts educational sector at an economic risk because of the stakeholders that depend on it. Shannon Holmes, the executive director of ATPE, asserted that 5.4 million students and around 750,000 public schools’ employees, and their families are at home (Association of Texas Professional Educators). Thus, schools remaining closed is causing severe economic implications. Even though re-opening schools will probably expose them to the virus, it also might threaten to lose funding because of disregarding local health authorities’ guidelines.

Most of the states, as well as community, perceive it is a plausible decision to reopen educational institutions during the fall 20. According to Modan, schools provide an influential atmosphere for a children’s physical and health development. Attending schools provides children with a set-up that supports their educational needs as well as social requirements. For instance, school environments support the advancement of social and emotional skills, ensures a conducive atmosphere for learning, and enable the development of physical activities.

The rate of contracting Coronavirus among children is relatively low. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children are at a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 infections compared to adults. Also, using the data that the CDC released, children account for 7% of COVID-19 infections and 0.1% of deaths related to the virus (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). However, children are supers spreaders, and therefore, the government is weighing on this decision to avoid severe implications. Thus, ppolicymakers are not evaluating if children cannot get the virus quickly, but the rate at which they can spread it. Therefore, it has led to reasonable fear since children have been regarded as super-spreaders of illnesses.

Even though some people perceive that schools should reopen in the fall, the government should wait until the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided since a small population of infected people might expose others to the virus, thus creating liability to the school and severe economic consequences. Schools should not be in a hurry to re-open due to the risk of students and workers spreading the virus to other people. Also, schools are going to be liable if any of the students and staff get sick. If schools act negligently, they might risk losing funding, which might affect their operations. Even though the decision to reopen schools is an ideal economic choice, it might expose the country to more challenges. Children have not been severely affected by the Coronavirus since many cases have been those of people above 18 years. The government and other stakeholders in the health sector are scrutinizing options which will indicate if it is a reasonable decision to re-open schools.

Works Cited

Association of Texas Professional Educators. ATPE Statement on TEA’s Final Public Health Guidance. 7 July 2020. 23 July 2020. <https://www.atpe.org/en/News/ATPE-Blog/2020/July/ATPE-Statement-on-TEA%E2%80%99s-Final-Public-Health-Guidan>.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall. 23 July 2020. 25 July 2020. <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/reopening-schools.html>.

Modan, Naaz. Will schools mandate COVID-19 vaccine or face liability? 10 July 2020. July 24, 2020. <https://www.educationdive.com/news/will-schools-mandate-covid-19-vaccine-or-face-liability/580893/>.

Swaby, Aliyya, and Patrick Svitek. "Texas will extend the time that schools will be allowed to stay online- only, Gov. Greg Abbott says." The Texas Tribune 14 July 2020. <https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/14/texas-schools-online-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR0qfBWfbog24IJRsOCq45hUB1WL0dcMPO2HdHpeMHKZkPZzN_t_g6fQ9NM>.