Coronavirus Update: A Note on Education

Dear Parents and Neighbors,

There is no question that in-person, classroom teaching offers the best education for students and that the past year of remote learning, despite our teachers' best efforts, has been emotionally, socially, and academically detrimental to children across the District. There is an urgent need to bring students back to school, and the CDC's recently published guidance on school operating protocols will greatly support the effort to bring more students back for Term 4, which begins on April 19th.

Early next week, DC Health is going to issue revised school reopening guidance based on the new CDC recommendations. Individual schools will then use this guidance to produce tailored operational plans—including updates to the number of students who will be able to return for in-person learning. The most promising policy change from the CDC is the reduction of classroom social distancing requirements from 6 feet to 3 feet. Classroom space limitations have been a major barrier to bringing more students back for in-person learning this term, and the determination by the CDC that a smaller social distance barrier meets a high safety standard means that we will be able to significantly increase the number students per classroom.

Reopening conditions will be determined on a school-by-school basis, so until these individual school plans are created, DC Public Schools (DCPS) is unable to provide teachers, students, and families with a clear vision of what the remainder of the school year will look like.

Here is what we do know:

At the Elementary Level - Due to the fact that students at the elementary level stay within one class, it will be much easier for our elementary schools to expand in-person learning for more students. DCPS anticipates that we will see significant classroom size expansions as a result of the new 3 foot social distancing protocol.
At the Middle/High School Level - Expanding in-person options will be much more complicated at the Middle and High School levels because the guidance will still seek to limit the degree of student cohort mixing. For example, a student who has 5 classes is subject to increased exposure risk due to being exposed to different teachers and peers throughout the day. Therefore, it is likely that we will not see extensive in-person learning expansion at the higher levels and that students who do return should expect class scheduling that includes both virtual and in-person options.
Randomized Testing - Schools will maintain randomized COVID-19 testing of 10% of the student population (with parental consent) and educators and building staff will continue to have access to weekly mail-in at-home testing. There is also a roving team of healthcare workers from DC Health who are able to provide in-person testing at schools. These early detection efforts will be essential in protecting students, teachers, and staff as the total number of people entering our school buildings increases.

With all this being said, it appears unlikely that all students will be able to return for in-person learning in Term 4, and, in any case, some families may wish to maintain their virtual learning environment through the end of the academic year.

In order to expand in-person learning, individual schools will need to grapple with their space limitations and staffing capabilities. Even with the current level of in-person safety operations, there have been 26 outbreaks in schools across the District, including multiple outbreaks in Ward 3. We cannot discount legitimate teacher or staff apprehension in returning to school, but we can share vaccination safety/efficacy information and expand access to vaccination opportunities. And over the next week, DC Health will be on-boarding three new vaccinating pharmacies that will provide vaccination opportunities for teachers, building staff, childcare workers.

Even in light of these operational complications, we have seen successes in recent weeks. Earlier this month, vaccination eligibility was expanded to all teachers, staff, and childcare workers. Along with many education advocates and my colleagues Councilmember Charles Allen and Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, we were successful in pushing for the cancellation of this year's PARCC exam. The Mayor has also met our call to establish outdoor classrooms and has committed $9 million in funding to support outdoor learning infrastructure. Large-scale tutoring and summer academic catch-up opportunities are being organized, and even student athletics and theater programs are being phased back in.

So, as we proceed, let's keep up our collective efforts: by wearing a mask (better yet, two), diligent hand washing, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.

Regards,

Mary