This nation has about 3-4 states with limited population and low enough viral penetration and spread to be on the fringe of "safe"...
The vast majority of schools, especially 'urban' schools - which is code for minority schools and just an average racist trope - are usually over-crowded and facing student to teacher ratios in the vicinity of 35 or even 40 to 1. There is ZERO chance that schools can open with 12 students per class without a massive culling of the enrollment. Even for the majority of other schools, the student to teacher ratios are nowhere close to capable of handling 12-to-1 restrictions.
Then there is the fact that kids are notorious rule breakers - especially teenagers and grade 7 through 12 students. Is the National Guard going to be in the hallways to stop conversations, yelling, singing grabbing, hugging, jumping up and down while yelling into each other's faces? There is simply no chance that social distancing in the hallways of a school with 2,000 - 3,000 students will be anything short of total chaos.
Masks half-worn or incorrectly covering only one's chin? Guaranteed 'rebel' statement akin to being "Goth" or "Punk" or "Alternative" or "Emo" or any other more current label one wishes to apply...
Opening schools to full enrollment or half-enrollment or quarter-enrollment is an uncontrollable mess. The ONLY option is to figure out how to leverage technology to allow the students to attend a single, broadcast class lecture, followed by the equivalent of recitation periods with smaller ratios, but all done virtually. Hell, kids will figure out that MS teams has a chat function that allows them to ignore the lecture and talk to each other just fine...only no touching, or sharing breathing air...
If schools open in August, they will be closed by the end of September and there won't be an October Surprise big enough to change the subject from the dead and dying teachers, staff and yes, students across the nation.
IF this is to be allowed, then all fake and phony 'reasons' must be debunked and people forced to confront the truth - they crave a 'return to February 2020 attitudes' and they are scared and frustrated by the government bungling of this whole thing, but they also are tribal and many are unwilling to break with their "team" despite facts, bodybags, ICUs turning away everyone and ERs and Hospitals broken and unable to fulfill their functions.
Kids to school = MANY MORE PEOPLE DIE. Period.
Someone needs to ask Trump how many dead is too many. How many dead is OK? When will Ivanka be stepping up and into a class room for 7 hours a day? Jared? Uday and Qusay? When will Baron be reporting to a crowded classroom with no masks and little to no social distancing? (That last one probably only impacts his trophy wife and only until she reaches her 'sell by' date soon...
Schools, theaters and sporting venues should ALL remain closed and locked down until the RISE of the Virus and the TRACING of all contacts with new cases can be confirmed and a system of quarantine established AS A BARE MINIMUM!
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