Is ASD Changing Course?
The Anchorage school board meeting clocks in at just under five hours long, but if you have the time, it's worth a watch or at least a listen if only because it appears that ASD might be finally listening to staff and community feedback, aiming to improve their phased-in approach to reopening schools.
When we're talking about an important issue such as returning children and adults to the classroom, we have to point out the good when it appears...and I think I heard some good last night.
School Superintendent Dr. Deena Bishop has reportedly been touring schools and said that she "wants to meet teachers where they are," It does appear the Superintendent is making an effort to do just that.
One of the significant items of contention between teachers and the school district has been the reduction of CDC social distancing guidelines from 6ft. to 3ft. in the classroom.
CDC guidelines do allow for a reduction of the recommended 6ft. of space, but they highly recommend other mitigation strategies be implemented if 6ft. of distance cannot be maintained in the classroom. During the last night's board meeting, the district shared photographs of large barriers that could be placed between rows of student desks/spaces. Barriers are an effective mitigation strategy, and while no mitigation strategy is 100% effective in "stopping" the spread of COVID-19, barriers such as the ones shown last evening are ideal if the school district can purchase or fabricate enough for every classroom.
It was also heartening to hear Superintendent Bishop acknowledge the scientific fact that COVID-19 is often spread by children asymptomatically. The acknowledgment of something well-documented in children should come as a breath of fresh air for staff and the community.
When asked about a potential vaccine distribution plan, Jennifer Patronas, the Anchorage School District Healthcare Services Director, indicated that Alaska might receive roughly 10,000 initial doses of the vaccine and that they would go to frontline healthcare workers in the state. An approved vaccine would likely require two doses to be given over two weeks, meaning that the first round of vaccinated healthcare workers would number roughly 5,000 vaccinated people. The bottom line is that teachers and school district staff would not be vaccinated with the initial shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Superintendent Bishop also acknowledged that dedicated "PPE was not sent to the classroom immediately" and that PPE was "put into different places to be disbursed" and that they are actively "working to account for that." Not an ideal situation, but honest.
Many of the board members seemed united in their messaging that the actions taken by the city of Anchorage and the state of Alaska to reduce the spread of the virus in the community have not been "sufficient." School District Board Member Starr Marsett expressed concern about the inability of stores such as Fred Myers to enforce the mask mandate, which has been in effect for longer than any of us care to remember. She's not wrong. Enforcement of the mask mandate has been a problem for the city since former Anchorage mayor Ethan Berkowitz first issued EO-13 months ago.
Ms. Marsett also said at the meeting that if you walk around some of our stores, you can see people not wearing their masks. Again, she's not wrong, and it's been an unaddressed problem by the Municipality for far too long.
The Municipality's inability to enforce the ordinance directly impacts the school district's ability to return to the classroom, and the school district has a legitimate concern because of its impact on public health and safety.
The board didn't address the concerns surrounding ASD's antiquated air circulation systems, but hopefully, that discussion will come in time.
For the time being, if it's worth anything, the school board definitely seemed more engaged and open in their discussions about how best to proceed. Again, that's not to say everything the school district comes up with is going to be perfect, nor should anyone expect perfection, but acknowledging asymptomatic spread, acknowledging areas where the school district can do better, and how the school district can better work with the Municipality will help foster a safer environment for children, staff and the community when the time comes to return to the classroom.
As an added note, over the last week, the Municipality averaged roughly 332 new confirmed cases per day (115.1 for every 100,000 residents), so the time to return does not appear to be now.
I hope we see more transparency and honesty from the school district as they and the community move forward.
