Moving Forward: Not Letting COVID Hold Schools Back
My college kid and her friends taping their rapid tests to the wall on NYE.
Happy 2022! I love New Years. The year ahead is brimming with possibilities and chances to start anew. Mistakes from the prior year are my teachers for the new year, and I intentionally leave behind that which no longer serves me. Like COVID-19. Wait, I can’t do that? Not even Omicron? Goodness, that Omicron has thrown us a curveball in a big way. While I knew, intellectually, that this pandemic could take more than two years to resolve, emotionally, it really stings that we’re still talking COVID almost two full years after Friday, March 13, 2020 – the day all the kids came home, seemingly, forever. Still, there’s so much good news to celebrate because 2021 brought us the vaccine, the booster, and treatments, and 2022 will give us more opportunities to keep using and developing the tools and knowledge we need to put COVID in its place, this time around. We have a year full of possibilities and hope. So, in that vein, what’s ahead?
We’ll spend more time in school. The CDC recently updated its K-12 schools’ guidance. It reduced the timeline for isolation (those with COVID) and quarantine (those exposed to COVID) for some school staff and students in certain circumstances. Now, there’s some controversy around the data and the “whys” behind these changes, but CDC is moving us in the direction where we know we’re headed. We’re going to have to apply our growing knowledge of COVID contagion to safely whittle down the number of days that teachers and students spend away from school. Making sure as many folks in schools are vaccinated and boosted will be essential to sustaining this! CDC also recently endorsed test-to-stay as another strategy to keep more students and teachers in school – unvaccinated close contacts could stay at school instead of quarantining, if they test frequently. And speaking of testing …
We’ll do more rapid testing. Testing is part of the future of COVID – frequent, available, and affordable rapid antigen testing. This can be one of the most effective ways to bring back society in full force from what I am seeing. DC schools, and schools across the country, are currently distributing rapid antigen tests to staff and students and requiring them to show a negative result before returning to school after winter break. This type of testing allows schools to quickly determine if students/ staff are contagious and isolate them before spreading it to others. Similarly, test-to-stay requires unvaccinated and exposed students and staff to continue testing negative to avoid quarantine and attend school.
Complete a rapid test to attend school or go to an event?! This is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Omicron’s super infectiousness fast-tracked our practice with this, as many families, including mine, did just this over winter break. Both of my college students and their friends tested every time they gathered (thanks to DC’s free, rapid, antigen tests available at neighborhood libraries). When someone tested positive, they stayed home. We did this as a family for Christmas, and my friends and I did this for a small New Year’s Eve gathering. We were all boosted as well – that was the baseline. Asking family and friends to take a rapid test before attending a gathering is similar in premise to test-to-stay, and it is showing up all over the country. People are ready to get back together - safely! (We must, however, fix the availability, accessibility, and affordability issues STAT.)
We are getting to a place where we’re primed to reframe the idea that testing is holding us back. In fact, testing is our way to break free! When people are boosted and 100% aware of their COVID status in the moment, they can take steps to re-engage with society and feel comfortable that others are doing the same. I want to get back to attending the silent auctions of neighborhood schools where I can bid on jewelry that I don’t need — IRL! I also want to get coffee with friends on a Saturday morning and not freeze while sitting outside. Please understand, I don’t think we are ever going “back to normal.” (In another blog, I can expound upon all the many things that didn't serve the communities I care about back there in the old, abnormal times). We are moving into our “next normal,” where we can be boosted, tested and masked when needed, connect with our friends and family, attend concerts, and above all - keep teachers teaching and students learning in school.
Now, COVID will likely have another curveball sooner or later, and schools know that testing, isolation, and quarantine aren’t enough on their own. So, again for those in the back:
Masks are here to stay; keep wearing them … over your nose (and up your game with KN95 or N95).
Stay home if you’re sick.
Wash your hands … a lot. And restock your hand sanitizer.
Stay home if you’re sick. (Did I already say that? Well, please do!)
Keep your distance (Easier said than done in school.)
Keep the air well ventilated and filtrated. (Remember all that ESSER money you used to buy fancy filters? Make sure you’re replacing them too.)