As Hawaii public school students prepare to return on Tuesday to in-person instruction, there are surely many nervous parents — some of them newly anxious, due to the current surge in omicron cases — who wonder if schools are ready for this.
There is ample reason to think that they are not. While the state Department of Education seems to have managed a “layered” series of protections to tamp down COVID-19 risks relatively well in the past semester, the pandemic landscape has changed.
This very concerning, mainly because there is still too much uncertainty surrounding the ultra-transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus. Also worrisome is the national news that an increasing percentage of unvaccinated children are sickened enough by their infections to end up in the hospital.
That’s a shift from past perceptions that children escape the most virulent effects of COVID-19. And it’s one not being acknowledged by any specific adjustment in plans issued so far from the DOE.
In its public news release last Wednesday, education officials touted the daily average of 19 positive coronavirus cases across nearly 42,000 staff and 160,000 students.
“While we remain vigilant due to the omicron variant, we have consistent safety measures in place that have proven effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in our schools,” interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in the prepared remarks.
Fortunately, students had been dismissed for holiday break before the worst of the winter spike so far. Case counts soared past 3,000 cases at about the same time the statement was issued.
Given the advance warning DOE had, simply being vigilant at this stage is not enough.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association reaction restated the union’s demand for transparency on contingency plans — now, as opposed to waiting for “potential situations that may require modifications to in-person instruction,” as stated by the DOE. Teacher advocates are right that faculty, staff and families need time to prepare for any schedule change — child-care arrangements, for starters.
The goal has to be keeping schools delivering in-person instruction as much as safety allows. School districts elsewhere have implemented “test and stay” programs, letting those who are exposed to infection to remain in school if cleared.
Some version of that needs to be replicated here, and schools should stand at the head of the line for access to rapid-test kits that become available.
“If the state of Hawaii truly prioritizes keeping our schools open and operational, it would have a clear, transparent plan to assure testing is available at all campuses for every single family and public school employee,” said HSTA President Osa Tui Jr.
No argument here. And none from Dr. Timothy Brown, who heads an epidemiology and disease modeling team at the East-West Center. Brown, who spoke Friday on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast, also said schools should distribute high-quality masks to students and staff.
And as for safeguards: “I don’t think 3-foot distancing is enough,” Brown added.
Still, not all the duty falls on the shoulders of the education department. Parents and guardians should consider vaccinating more of the youth, especially adolescents. Children 5 and up are now eligible.
Even if parents may hesitate giving shots to younger kids, they must at least protect keiki by surrounding them at home with adults who are fully immunized and boosted.
Kids deserve to have an academic year that restores the learning and social interaction that they’ve lost. If responsible adults act responsibly on their behalf, it’s still possible to give our keiki that much.
