San Diego politicians, along with San Diego Unified School District and parents, must COMMIT to re-opening our schools on-time this fall.  This includes giving our children access to the extracurricular activities and sports they are accustomed to.  But it’s not enough to simply make the commitment.  We must ANTICIPATE the challenges involved with re-opening our schools during this covid-19 pandemic and we must PLAN for possible solutions that will allow us to re-open schools in accordance with any guidelines that may be on the horizon.  If we wait until the last minute to COMMIT, ANTICIPATE, and PLAN, it will be too late to re-open in the fall.  We need to do it NOW.

Why COMMIT to re-opening schools this fall?

• For many children, school is their livelihood.  It’s a place to learn, be creative, exercise, socialize with friends, participate in extracurricular activities, and play sports.
• Online education has been ineffective.  Students are not getting the number of hours of instruction they are used to in the classroom.  Many are not comfortable asking for help in a distance learning environment.  Many parents are not able to fill in the gaps with the instruction that is lacking.
• Children may not be receiving the special education resources they need in a distance learning environment.
• Older children are left home alone without structure or supervision while their parents are working full-time in essential positions.
• Children are filling their time with unhealthy activities, such as playing video games and watching TV.
• Many children are stuck home each day in unacceptable environments, such as neglectful or abusive environments.
• Children are feeling alone, isolated, confused, and depressed.
• High school students are worried about their futures.  They are concerned about sports scholarships and recruiting, AP exams, and college readiness.
• San Diego has been very fortunate compared to other large cities as far as infection rates with covid-19.  Refer to www.sandiego.gov for the latest statistics.

What challenges should we ANTICIPATE?

• There will likely be social distancing guidelines
• There will be an increased need for hand-washing and hand-sanitizing
• Temperature screenings may be mandatory to enter schools
• Some parents, students, and faculty may be fearful and reluctant to re-open schools
• Some faculty and students may not return to school if they fall into “high risk” categories

How do we PLAN?

• Each school needs to organize a “Re-open Our School” planning committee comprised of faculty, parents, and students.  This needs to happen NOW.  All school campuses are different and a planning committee is needed to put solutions into place at each school.
• Planning committees need to evaluate outdoor campus space for use as classroom space.  San Diego has mild weather and utilizing outdoor space for learning can promote social distancing.
• Planning committees need to begin recruiting volunteers at each school for a variety of positions that may be necessary, such as temperature-screeners at the entrances of schools.
• Planning committees need to solicit donations for things such as hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.
• Classroom disinfecting responsibilities can become part of the students’ “chores”.  All students should be responsible for disinfecting their desks at the beginning or end of each class.
• The district should consider making children's physical presence at school "optional". That would decrease the number of students in classrooms. Distance learners would join their classes via live streaming. 
• Assuming there will be a small subset of the faculty that cannot return to school in the fall due to pre-existing health conditions, administrators need to explore the possibility of matching those particular teachers with distance learning students as Zoom tutors.

This is an urgent call to action to COMMIT to re-opening our San Diego schools on-time this fall, ANTICIPATE the challenges and safety guidelines that may arise, and PLAN for solutions we can implement so our schools can open safely and successfully.