Schools across Montgomery County (MCPS) have been closed for nearly eight months and many families are becoming restless from being cooped up in their homes. With no definitive end to the quarantine in sight, many student and parent protests have urged MCPS to reopen schools in-person regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with MCPS having the highest death count and second highest case count in Maryland, the county should be more concerned with the health and safety of all its residents and hold off on reopening schools.
According to a graphic from Moderately MOCO, Montgomery County has one of the relatively strictest reopening guidelines in the DMV area by only allowing hybrid in-person learning if there are 1-5 cases per 100K and sticking with virtual learning if there are 10-15 cases per 100K. Comparatively, other counties such as Frederick County and Baltimore County will begin expanding in-person learning if there are 1-5 cases per 100K and have limited in-person learning for more than 15 cases per 100K. Considering MOCO has the highest population of nearly 1 million residents, it is justifiable that they have more rigid plans since every life must be taken into account.
Many argue that there is no substantial evidence that COVID-19 outbreaks are associated with school reopenings. Even so, there have been isolated cases of COVID outbreaks at schools in Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Georgia according to a Wall Street Journal article. Recently, New York City announced that all public schools will be closed due to a spike in cases. It is better to leave the wound alone till it is fully healed rather than pick and fester it. Hasty decisions should not be made to prevent rushing open schools only to close all of them in two weeks which only perpetuates how long we stay under quarantine.
When schools are reopened, people can take it as an indicator to resume their normal lives, ignoring proper protective rules. Just because schools reopen doesn’t mean that we can immediately start frequenting bars, gyms and restaurants — all of which are breeding grounds for the virus. If schools are to reopen, tighter restrictions on other activities should also be expected so that cases can be kept in control. MCPS reopening metrics make it so that returning to school isn’t abrupt so that it is not considered a signal that life can continue pre-pandemic.
Recently, parents and families were sent a survey asking whether they prefer continuing with virtual learning or sending their children for limited in-person learning once the appropriate metrics are met. According to the MCPS website, if schools were to reopen a rotating schedule would be implemented where only a certain number of students physically attend school on certain days and others learn virtually. Though this system limits large groups, it is very difficult to keep track of when a student should be going to school and may possibly be marked absent. Not only that, there is less motivation to actually attend school since students may be less inclined to go for only 1-2 days in a week.
To adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, MCPS also guarantees health considerations such as proper sanitizing, no supply sharing, and face coverings. However, the situation varies from school to school and not all of them have the proper resources or manpower to follow through with these requirements. Many schools in poorer communities cannot be expected to have spotless rooms and provide each student their own supplies. Many smaller, older schools also don’t have proper ventilation or space to observe the six-feet social distancing rule.
It has been asserted again and again that COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere for a long time. It is unknown if we can ever return to the pre-pandemic lifestyle, but we must try and the first step is imposing hard restrictions and delaying the opening of potential spreader locations, including schools. However important education is, it is worth nothing if those receiving it are in no condition to learn.
Article by Athira Nair of Richard Montgomery High School
Graphic by Angelina Guhl of Richard Montgomery High School