Sentinel-News Editorial

In addition to a COVID-19 vaccine, reopening schools is a lynchpin in getting the economy back on track. Parents need to work, and that's difficult to do when kids are stuck at home forced to learn from a laptop.

There is no silver bullet right now. In Iowa, most rural schools like ours are forging ahead with plans to reopen while other districts in larger metro areas are staying closed until the fall. This is a double-whammy of hurt. Parents will once again be forced to work from home while juggling their childrens' lesson plans. This is by no means ideal for the kids either, as you can't replace a teacher with online curriculum.

Sure, you can get close and check off necessary learning requirements, but it's not the same. This is especially true for elementary students whose fresh, young minds often need more hands-on instruction for reading and writing. The spring shutdown likely put them behind pace and another prolonged classroom absence will no doubt do more long-term damage to their educational progress.

A dearth of executive leadership in Iowa and Washington, D.C., has created frustration for some school districts. The omnipresent threat of COVID-19 has administrators worried that reopening the doors will lead to an uptick in cases within their walls, and they have a responsibility to protect the health of vulnerable students and the teachers that instruct them. There is no mask order in Iowa for schools nor are CDC social distancing guidelines mandated. Without such requirements, those most susceptible to the virus face a greater threat of infection and even death. It's true schools must reopen, but what are we willing to wager?

Many professions have been labeled essential during this pandemic and it's more than reasonable to include teachers in that category. With the economy in the tank and many industries running at half-speed, a return to "normalcy" will no doubt move the needle in a positive direction. The kids need them, too. However, when we have leaders who want to re-open schools but refuse to mandate rules that prevent the spread of COVID-19, it leads to a black hole of fear and doubt while simultaneously piling the responsibility of public health onto administrators much more adept at school finance than disease prevention. According to the CDC, crossing your fingers and hoping everything turns out OK isn't a proven method at preventing COVID-19.

On Monday, Walmart implemented a mask policy for its customers. Many other businesses have had them in place for months. If they deem such measures necessary at preventing the spread and keeping operations as normal as possible, why can't Iowa schools?