Consider the children, who come in a wide variety of sizes, behaviors, gifts, talents, and needs. Then the teachers, who lead the learning. Now, stir into that mix all the basics of running essentially a small business enterprise – the staffing, scheduling, and human resources - plus food service and transportation.
No wonder our best teachers and principals are seen as heroes, if not saints.
And now, into this mix of tasks, came the Covid-19 scourge that closed down all our schools, and the expectation they can re-open safely and soon. It is a ponderous planning challenge for school administrators - and with no time to spare before the summer ends.
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It’s one thing for politicians to say our schools must re-open. It’s another matter entirely for school boards and teachers and families to know how to accomplish such a feat, and to systematically work through all the moving parts that this involves.
Of course it’s vital to us all, young and old, that schooling resume as soon as possible. Child development cannot be paused for long, and most young parents need to get back to work themselves - without a daily scramble arranging childcare for out-of-school kids.
As summer begins, and the pandemic marches on, our schools are facing layers of connected issues and choices to make ready for the fall. It is a giant Rubik’s Cube of a brain-twister, a daunting decision-tree in which nearly all aspects of the school day must get a fresh look and fast. Consider these:
Distancing: How do you separate a couple of dozen active children in a typical tiny classroom? What other facilities should be considered now so that more capacity is brought into play?
Grade Levels:First-graders and high-schoolers being very different people, what are the respective needs of elementary, middle and upper schools? All kids are social creatures, with kindergartners and early graders especially accustomed to piling on. How will age-related social behaviors be taken into account?
Nutrition, PE, Social Development:How will cafeterias and gyms work? Will the children need to remain in their classrooms through lunchtime? For younger children especially, how will recess and playground time work? How and when can inter-school athletics be re-engaged?
The School Day: To spread students out, how will school schedules be designed? Will different grade levels attend on alternating days? Or will each day be divided somehow, with grades K-6 attending in the morning and 7-12 in the afternoon?
Getting There:How will those adjustments complicate school bus routes and schedules system-wide? What must parents know to support this?
Staffing: The educators will need separation, too, and some may need to work from home. This planning must be done building by building.
Distance Learning: This may seem a simple answer, but it isn’t. It’s easy for some adults to assume all homes have a computer and convenient broadband. A lot don’t.
An estimated 44 percent of homes in Middle Tennessee lack either computers, internet connections, or both. (Smartphones alone won’t suffice for some study packs.) Remote instruction means extra duty for everyone involved – teachers and their planning time, parents and their own jobs, and students with their differing needs.
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Across Tennessee, the status of 140-plus local school systems statewide appears uneven. Decisions are being made by some county executives and local legislative bodies to reduce school spending, not raise it.
This presents a perfect storm for schools and their administrators hoping to re-open, and it adds urgency to how those federal Covid-19 relief funds are best shared across governments. Schools should be at the top of the list. School leaders (and parents) should not be shy about saying so.
Communities at large can address these issues, but decision-makers ought to steer by four stars in their planning:
1. Embrace the Complexity: Teachers know best what their students can do and where they need help. Communities should make the system work for every child, regardless of abilities. This is most clearly seen with struggles that families have experienced with distance learning. Every child counts.
2. Think Outside the Box: Some districts across the U.S. are devising new types of scheduling, adjusting the traditional notion of the school day and week. Nontraditional facilities should be on the table – just as cities and states have recently turned hotels and convention centers into hospitals.
3. Ask Others to Help: Principals and their superintendents cannot do this alone. Draw in the broader community, creativity and spirit of innovation. This ought to include your neighbors in business. Much can be learned – about technology, space utilization, even scheduling – from the expertise so common in the private sector.
4. Good Communication: Let parents and teachers know what’s going on through these summer months. Be open to feedback, then let folks know what has to change.
None of this is easy. But we should all keep in mind that the true job of schools is to make discerning citizens of our children and grandchildren. Even those adults who may think they aren’t connected to schools do indeed have a stake in their success. The well-being of a community requires this.
The success and the safety of those who attend them are important to us all.
Keel Hunt is a regular columnist for The Tennessean, frequent photographer and travel aficionado… and recently the author of his second book "Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee into the 21st Century and Could Save America," debuting this October.
