It’s been two weeks since Seattle Public Schools released preliminary details about its plan to reopen buildings in the fall. Now, amid heightened debate across the region and the country about the health risks of resuming instruction in person, the teachers union and some School Board members are searching for alternatives.

This week, the Seattle Education Association issued a statement opposing in-person teaching in the fall, calling it “reckless” under current conditions and advocating 100% remote learning. The union is currently bargaining with the school district over work conditions for this fall.

At the same time, a few School Board members are drafting an ambitious alternative to the complex reopening plan the district had previously proposed: two hours of instruction outdoors on most days, and remote learning in most other cases. School buildings would be reserved for a narrow list of activities, including special-education services and support for remote learning.

The debate over reopening school buildings

Opening school buildings — an essential step to reopening the economy — has become a divisive issue nationwide, with districts weighing the substantial loss of learning resulting from school closures against the health risks of gathering kids and adults together, even with distancing guidelines.

Over the past week, largely hollow threats from President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to withhold funding from schools that don’t reopen in the fall added more fire to the debate. The Trump administration also discussed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines around distancing in schools as impractical; the CDC has said it will release updated guidelines soon.

Some recent research has pointed to lower risk of transmission and infection in children. Even so, gatherings of adults — especially in areas with high coronavirus caseloads — can have severe consequences

Educators and policymakers have discussed those implications this week as they learned about three Arizona summer school teachers who caught the coronavirus while socially distancing, using masks and hand sanitizers. The three shared a classroom while teaching online. One of the teachers has since died.

The nation’s second largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, scrapped its plans for in-person schooling this week and opted for an online-only start to the school year. San Diego did the same.

What about Seattle?

“LA and other districts’ decisions are not impacting us at this time. We are interested in all data and information that is pertinent, and the superintendent communicates with other superintendents nationwide on a regular basis,” said Tim Robinson, a district spokesperson.

An outdoor alternative?

But some School Board members are working on an alternative. Members Chandra Hampson, Brandon Hersey and Liza Rankin haven’t yet introduced their proposal for formal consideration. Hampson said she didn’t know when that would happen, but the Board is scheduled to meet and review a district restart plan on Aug. 12.

The draft resolution, released to the public July 14th afternoon, tries to address both health and academic concerns. 

Read the original story here.