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Darnell Goldson.
(Opinion) I arrived at that position based on several factors, but the overriding element was my obligation to “safety first.” Put simply, I believe all available evidence points to a lack of adequate safety protocols to protect our New Haven Public Schools students, families and staff.
Oftentimes as school board members we are required to make tough decisions that may affect a small subgroup of students, parents and teachers, such as closing schools or shifting budget priorities, but as a whole greatly benefit the system and its constituents. Recently we were asked to decide between reopening the system with a hybrid model of in-class and remote learning or choosing total remote learning. This was probably one of the toughest decisions I have made in my five years on the school board. Part of my job is to make sure the administration has the apparatuses in place to insure a smooth school year opening. And of course, we want to see all our children in schools and receive high quality educational opportunities. Voting to delay their return to our buildings, even for a short time, was not a vote taken lightly.
Connecticut and New Haven are in the enviable position of having low infection and death rates compared to other states. We did not arrive at that position with pure luck or some sort of God given destiny. We did it through early adhering to mitigation such as social distancing, wearing masks and shutting down large social gatherings. We did this despite the opposition of some national and local leadership, and also against sometimes conflicting professional medical advice. We should want to continue to keep virus spread and deaths low. Putting students and staff into group gatherings, sometimes unsupervised (at bus stops for example) is the exact opposite of what has kept the virus spread low. Changing course is not the answer to emerging from this pandemic.
Over the last few days I have been shocked to hear our government leadership adopt the same stance as our failed president and his education secretary to suggest that opening schools is safe. I have been even more surprised by close associates who have echoed the same. The Secretary of Education recently stated that children are “stoppers of the disease” who “don’t get it and transmit it themselves.” We still don’t know a lot about the virus, but we do know from several studies that these statements are untrue. Advice from leadership and medical experts should be taken in combination with the recent trends we have seen, and frankly the advice we have seen as over the last six months has been partially based on trial and error. “Wear masks; do not wear masks.” “Get tested; don’t get tested.” “Children don’t seem to be affected; children do get sick.” How many of us remember not too long ago when medical experts were telling us not to wear masks? Additionally, we do not know the long-term effects of this virus on our bodies, even for people who are asymptomatic. Now we are being told that this virus may actually reshape the human heart and probably has other unknown consequences. This past Friday researchers at Duke published a study of 14 commonly used masks, and determined that some, like fleece, bandanas and knitted masks are largely ineffective. In fact, those wearing fleece masks actually ejected more particles than those without masks.
Medical advice is constantly changing. Throughout this pandemic we have first been told that Personal Protection Equipment at one moment is not useful, at another is essential. We have been told to use hand sanitizers, but are now hearing that poisonous hand sanitizers are seeping into our national supply systems. We have no idea whatsoever what these new-fangled cleaning substances we are using in our schools and on our buses will do to our developing children and staff in the long term. We don’t know if the virus can or will be diffused through our regular ventilation systems, though research emerged in July which showed that air conditioning spread Covid-19 from table to table in a restaurant.
Some people have reached out to me to complain that New Haven should get in line with the other school systems in Connecticut and that our decision was not reasonable or based on science. I disagree. My decision was greatly influenced by what I believed was a clear lack of safety protocols in the plan submitted by the Superintendent. What kind of masks will students be allowed to wear? The plan lacked protocols to deal with children at bus stops and on buses such as how to enforce mask wearing and social distancing, except to suggest that the bus drivers would monitor the students. How in the heck are drivers supposed to drive safely while making sure our children don’t switch seats, wrestle or take off their masks? When asked how classrooms would be kept cleaned during the day, we were first told that teachers would be responsible, then we were told they would not, and finally we were told that teachers would be supplied with more cleaning supplies. Yet the original question has not been answered. We were told by the city health director that they planned to contact trace when someone was ill, but meaningful contact tracing will not be possible.
Also, we sometimes forget that students aren’t the only human beings in these school buildings. Teachers are being vilified for advocating for their safety. One letter writer stated that teachers “have whipped up a frenzy that is not supported by science.” Another suggested that their lives and livelihood will be at stake if teachers don’t return to schools and asked “what are we to do, quit our jobs?” Another, who admitted that “most parents in New Haven did not have the same privilege that we do,” then continued that “if we move to a higher infection rate by all means…go to distant learning.” Most, but not all of these letter writers were parents of students who went to the more “choice” schools in New Haven, one of which students are not bused. They have jobs where they are least likely to become infected, and their children are met at the door of the school, no need to worry about busing and bus stop protocols. The principal actually sent out an email to the parents and teachers suggesting they sign a petition and write to the board members, after the Superintendent wrote her own letter. Though I understand their concerns, I think the best response to these people which stood out the most to me was when one teacher stated, “I care about my students, but I also care about the lives of my family and myself. Don’t send us back because people need babysitters.”
I understand the difficulties parents will face with the children home. I can sympathize with the parents’ very real concerns that children will lose ground, especially after going through the distant learning roll out this past spring. I have an eight year grandson in my household. We have the same issues. But my grandson’s safety, and those of us that live here with him is my greatest concern. The safety of those teachers who will not have a real choice is of concern. The lives of those young children who do not come from privilege is a concern.
The science and the evidence for not returning to school buildings is there for all to see. We should look to the 14 out of the 15 largest systems in the US that have decided to begin school remotely. We should learn from the several states which reopened early and reversed those decisions when cases spiked. One school district in Georgia reported 25 staff members in five schools and the central office tested positive on its first day of pretesting for school reopening, with more testing to occur. What weighed heavily into my decision making was watching the Wilton and Norwalk schools transition its summer programs from in-class to remote when several children were infected by the virus. I looked at Florida reporting a 34 percent jump in cases less than 18 years old. Hospitalizations of that age group rose by 23 percent. Missouri closed its summer camps when 82 children and staff tested positive. More than 300 children in Texas daycares were infected. When Israel saw Covid cases subside, it reopened its schools to disastrous results. Rates mushroomed in the schools, which quickly rippled out to students’ homes and neighborhoods. And at the end of July our own governor reported seeing a spike in COVID-19 ages in the 10 – 29 age group.
Covid-19 killed more American in its first six months than the Spanish Flu, the deadliest pandemic in modern times and lasted two years. We are not even close to getting past this current pandemic, many more people will probably become infected and perish.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told educators that because little remains known about the virus, teachers and students will be “part of the experiment of the learning curve of what we need to know.” I don’t intend to support replicating “experiments” such as the Tuskegee Experiment, which was overseen by the Surgeon General of the United States. I would not vote to allow our teachers and students to become the learning curve of some great experiment. I stand by my decision to not send our families back to those buildings. I hope my fellow board members will do the same.
Darnell Goldson is a member of the Board of Education.