MILLIONS of kids will return to class next month, despite surging coronavirus cases after only five states delayed openings. The delays come as COVID-19 cases in the US reached 3.67million on Saturday, with more than 139,000 deaths, with numbers climbing across much of the South. Schools in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, and West Virginia are […]
MILLIONS of kids will return to class next month, despite surging coronavirus cases after only five states delayed openings.
The delays come as COVID-19 cases in the US reached 3.67million on Saturday, with more than 139,000 deaths, with numbers climbing across much of the South.
Schools in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, and West Virginia are among those who have announced delayed openings, according to The Daily Mail.
Other schools have put guidelines in place to do do a mix of online and in-person classes.
Schools across California, Texas, and Illinois are among the states to recently implement requirements for meeting, meaning millions of kids will have online classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom set strict guidelines on how students could go back to meeting in person. Included in the Democrat’s rules is a mandate that all kids above second grade must wear masks, The Associated Press reported.
Los Angeles and San Diego school districts have already announced that schools will only be online in the fall.
In Texas, public schools can have online classes for the first eight weeks of the semester. More than 5million students will not head back for in-person classes until November.
In Chicago, Illinois, a majority of kids would only meet in-person two days a week. The other three weekdays, classes would meet online.
Many other states across the nation have announced delayed reopenings, or partial reopenings where they will only meet in-person a few days a week with limited numbers of students each day.
Some states are pushing for classes to meet in-person.
In Iowa, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said she would override school districts and require classes to meet in-person at least half the time.
Vice President Mike Pence announced earlier this month that the CDC would be updating recommendations on reopening schools, because the Trump administration does not want to halt classes from meeting in-person.
President Trump previously slammed the CDC’s guidance as “tough.”
“I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools,” he tweeted on Wednesday morning.
“While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!”
Trump then threatened to withhold funding for schools if they don’t reopen in the fall.
“Now that we have witnessed on a large scale basis, and firsthand, Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus Learning,” Trump tweeted.
“Not even close! Schools must be open in the Fall. If not open, why would the Federal Government give Funding? It won’t!!!”
Public health experts have warned that keeping schools closed in the fall could hurt kids in the long run.
Experts said it may stunt kids’ education and social growth.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has also stressed the importance of reopening schools in the fall, saying it’s not a question of whether, but when.
As some schools gear up to open, however, some teachers have expressed fear that they will die if they return for in-person classes.
Fifth-grade teacher Andrea Clark said at least 10 teachers from her school in Florida are drafting wills out of fear they might contract the coronavirus.
“They are so concerned about returning to school that they are updating their will or making their wills,” she told First Coast News.
“Some teachers have underlying health concerns where they feel fairly certain that if they caught COVID-19, it would be a bad outcome, possibly fatal,” she added.
