I appreciate the focus on ventilation. It’s a big concern for every teacher I know when it comes reopening schools. However, while all the classrooms in the elementary school that you visited had windows, it is very common for schools to have multiple windowless classrooms.
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus @zeynep
For example, the school where I worked had 7+ windowless classrooms. Also none in the library, nurse’s office, or administrators’ and counselors’ offices. The windows could only tilt open about 2”, with 2 index-card-sized portions with screens that air could actually flow through
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus
Very true! That should be taken into account. It seems wrong to treat schools as one-size all without addressing ventilation. Places that can open windows/move outdoors can do so; windowless can add HEPA filters, upgrade central filters, high-filtration masks for teachers etc.
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Replying to @zeynep @iamlaurasaurus
Some places with terrible ventilation and high-community spread may decide not to open, or not to use those rooms! It's exactly why I wrote this piece, hopefully so this can be taken into account to make sure teachers and staff are as safe as possible.
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Replying to @zeynep
No classroom teachers I know have been optimistic about the “have class outdoors as much as possible” idea. It’s largely incompatible with a modern K-12 public classroom, especially an inclusion class. (And all classes are inclusion to some extent.)
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus @zeynep
I think it’d be better to focus on greatly improving indoor ventilation. Honestly, as someone who taught the smelliest age group (middle schoolers), I’d be strongly in favor of improving classroom ventilation even if it did nothing for public health.
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus
Of course. It's a pandemic and everything has downsides. We do what we can, as best we can, as soon as possible. Outdoors is imperfect but possible immediately in many places. Improving indoor ventilation is great, too. Given the enormous harms to children, imperfect is okay.
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Replying to @zeynep
I just don’t know enough about special education law to know how much schools leeway schools have if these imperfect solutions mean you can’t follow a kid’s IEP or 504 plan. (Not just being outside - a lot of pandemic safety measures interfere with common accommodations.)
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus @zeynep
Like, if the glare from the sun prevents a kid who writes with a NEO from using it, or it messes up the microphone system used to help a hard of hearing kid, could the school or teacher get in trouble for not providing FAPE? Or do some things get waived due to circumstances?
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Replying to @iamlaurasaurus
I would hope that we would waive some, and also maybe do special efforts for kids with IEPs. Right now, parents of kids with IEPs are usually in the worst possible situation as their kids are suffering greatly, and the alternative is to do nothing which is certainly worse.
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I get that outdoors isn't ideal for all kids, but house arrest with no support and sitting in front of a screen isn't better. If anything, I think special-needs kids deserve more focus on how to get them back in class as soon as possible, even under less than perfect conditions.
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