Coronavirus Effects in Public Schools

We are living in unprecedented times.  Most of us are probably at home trying to make the best of a tough situation, some even have kids and have to stay home and take care of them. As the economy starts to slowly open back up and workers are starting to get back to work, one thing that will continue to remain closed are schools. The schools are said to be kept closed until at least the next school year, but what if the virus does not ease up by then?  Will districts decide to remain closed in the fall? The easy answer: only time will tell, but for many adults with kids, they need to know now. People rely on schools as a form of childcare while they are away at work and if schools remain closed, but if workers go back to work, what happens to the children? 

Opening up schools while in the middle of a pandemic is a very risky move because schools are known to be an easy place for viruses to spread fast. An article written by Kalyn Belsha theorized that if schools were to open in the fall there will be many precautions put into place like mandatory thermometer tests and smaller class sizes. The current coronavirus can be deadly to young people, too.  The youngest person to die from the coronavirus in Michigan was a five-year-old girl. So reopening schools will have to require the ability to assure teachers, students, and parents that going to school will be safe and will not put children at risk. If schools decide to open in the fall, attendance will probably lower and many parents might opt for home schooling.

Higher education institutions are facing similar problems as there is talk about many high school seniors deciding to take a year off before attending their first year at a university. This is troublesome for most colleges, according to Dr. Frim Ampaw, a professor at Central Michigan University.  Universities have several funding sources, but most of the funding comes from tuition. Lower attendance leads to a smaller budget for universities to work with, which can be concerning. Central Michigan University present Bob Davis already announced that the CMU budget for next year will decrease by as much as 20% percent. Also, with many colleges promising to increase financial aid and freezing tuition there is no doubt that universities are going to struggle in the fall. 

K-12 public schools are in an even worse situation because for most students, homeschooling is not an option because many parents work during the day and do not have the time or qualifications to manage their children’s learning. Students are required to have an education and most public schools do not have the resources for online schooling. 

I believe that we will likely see children returning to school in the fall because there is not a better option as of right now. As a result, we will probably see another peak of coronavirus around public schools. Hopefully, by then we will have a better handle on the coronavirus, and we will see a vaccine coming soon.