In early 2020, the novel coronavirus COVID-19 spread throughout Europe and into the United States. During this time, public and private schools were faced with the dilemma of whether or not to maintain operations.
While most schools continued to go about business as normal during the early stage of the pandemic, many had closed their doors by mid-March. Not long after, most schools, including post-secondary institutions, had cancelled classes and began offering virtual learning alternatives.
The US had more than 4.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and in excess of 155,000 deaths as of July 31, according to worldometers.info. Moreover, America was still reporting more than 60,000 new cases per day almost every day since July 10. Despite this, the presidential administration has been adamant that schools need to reopen in the fall.
Below is a look at how certain jurisdictions are handling the issue:
New York City
New York City is the country's largest school district. While schools won't be running as they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is expected to be at least some in-class instruction. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a blended instruction plan that would include student attendance at school between one and three days per week.
However, Governor Andrew Cuomo has since stated that school districts must be in regions that are in Phase 4 of reopening before allowing in-person attendance. New York City was not in that phase as of July 31.
Atlanta
The school year in Atlanta generally begins on August 10. However, under Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring's proposed plan, the year wouldn't begin until August 24. Additionally, the first nine weeks of the academic year will be strictly virtual.
This decision was made after a poll was conducted that found that 57 percent of respondents wanted the academic delivery model to be aligned with recommendations from health authorities. Moreover, the poll highlighted teacher and bus driver concerns. In fact, 72 and 67 percent of those professionals, respectively, said they were uncomfortable about returning to work.
Detroit
In contrast to Atlanta and New York City, families will have a say in how they want their children to learn during the 2020-21 academic year, as both in-person and virtual classes will be offered. This model has already been implemented in summer classes hosted by Detroit Public Schools.
More than half of the 4,000 parents who signed up for the voluntary program opted to have their children attend schools in person. Schools have implemented guidelines such as requiring staff and students to wear face masks, administering temperature checks, and disinfecting classrooms and buses every day.