AZ Governor orders all schools open by March 15, or after Spring Break

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

According to the superintendent of schools, they were not consulted or notified of this prior to the announcement. There is not (nor ever has been) any official plan or guidelines on how to open schools, so I guess schools have 10 days to figure it out. 

https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2021/03/governor-ducey-issues-executive-order-requiring-schools-offer-person-learning

I feel a conversation with the on-the-ground school staff would have been wise before this order, so that at least they could have planned to open a bit past Spring break, when people tend to travel. Better would have been a more comprehensive and tiered re-opening plan, like: in the month of march, cleaning and safety protocols must be developed and published, and a steering committee established. April 1-15, schools open at 50% capacity, and April 15-29 schools open at 100% capacity (or whatever). 

 

I work at a private school with a student body of only about 300, and we've been open all year in person, with a distance option but not very widely utilized. So I know opening schools safely can be done, but also my school's situation is much different than the average school. Low census, affluent parents who are able to get kids tested frequently to comply with our policies, a budget for enhanced cleaning and HVAC, etc. 

[ChristmasNurse]

Lack of consulting and communicating has been the major issue throughout this pandemic when it comes to schools.  Not understanding just how difficult-to-impossible achieving mitigation standards is in so many schools has also been a problem.  We had terrible federal leadership when this began and some states have had terrible state leadership.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I'm really confused as to how they didn't have a comprehensive plan at the end of last Summer. They could have (should have) been watching to see what implementations others districts in other states have been doing since the fall. I'm really surprised at how many schools have been closed for a year now, and still don't have a plan for in person learning??   

 I know it seems overwhelming, but a lot of schools have been open and mostly safe for months. 

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

10 minutes ago, lifelearningrn said:

I'm really confused as to how they didn't have a comprehensive plan at the end of last Summer. They could have (should have) been watching to see what implementations others districts in other states have been doing since the fall. I'm really surprised at how many schools have been closed for a year now, and still don't have a plan for in person learning??   

 I know it seems overwhelming, but a lot of schools have been open and mostly safe for months. 

Agreed.  We weren't sure if we'd open in August (we did), but we started making plans at the end of June.  As soon as school was out administration switched gears and went from "how to make remote learning better" to "how to open a school without outbreaks".  We're now on our 6th or 7th version of our reopening plan because we've had to alter and update with new guidelines, recommendations & data.