On Thursday, July 9, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the reopening of schools for the week of August 24. It was earlier scheduled to reopen on August 13 but later extended to give schools the opportunity to adjust to the covid-19 protocols.
As of July 30, Arkansas was ranked the thirtieth state of ongoing covid-19 cases with 41,759 being positive. With that being said, there is still a risk of children and teachers receiving and spreading the virus. However, due to American schools closing down early there is no existing evidence showing how the virus will spread throughout the classrooms.
The Alma school board had voted that all K-12 students and staff must wear face masks this school year. Grouping students in small pods had also been taken into consideration. To ease the minds of students, parents, and teachers, the students were given the option of in person, virtual, and blended learning this fall. Parents had been asked to home screen their children before school and to keep them home if they begin showing symptoms.
Early this month a study was made in South Korea of 5,700 covid-19 patients, and they had found that kids under the age of 10 spread the virus at half the rate of adults. Whereas kids between ages 10-19 spread the virus at a closer rate as adults. Nonetheless, every student and staff is strongly urged to follow all hand washing, wearing face mask, and social distancing guidelines as much as possible to help prevent more spreading.
Dr. Jared Cleveland, Superintendent of Springdale School District, discusses how schools are preparing for the return of their students and staff. “The aspect that we’re focusing on is culture of care of all children, an educational system that suits the needs of all children, and families out there that we serve”, Dr. Cleveland stated. He then proceeded to say, “continual to learn from our medical professionals and the people that are out there focusing on keeping others safe- if we can focus on those areas we’re going to be a lot better early”.
To add to the conversation, Carole Fleming, President of the Arkansas Edu. Association addresses the situation through her perspective. “We know that digital learning does not replace in-person instruction, we know that is very important for the social and emotional development of our children, but we have to consider are we going to be able to safely instruct our children in our schools and follow the social distancing requirements”.
Our administration, school boards, medical professionals are expected to come together to provide more information and solutions for schools reopening, but it is the parents and students responsibility to proceed with all possible caution. Visit cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/prepare to better prepare your children for their return to this school year.