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Back to school Our view: Safety must be primary factor

Obviously, children are better off learning in school. We hope the plan Gov. Walz announces will allow children and school staff to do what they do well.
We understand parents want and need to go to work, that our economy needs children in school this fall. But only if it’s safe.
Safety must be the primary consideration in the decision to allow children and teachers back to school.
We applaud the governor for considering in-school learning, distance learning and a hybrid of the two. The three-option plan affords the Minnesota Department of Education and school districts greater flexibility and hopefully some measure of local control.
Flexibility at a time when our experts are making educated assumptions on what will happen in the next four, six or eight weeks is critical. While it plays well with some constituencies, a blanket uncompromising approach offers no ability to adjust to change situations. An outbreak at Lakeside Elementary could have students there learning from a distance while junior-senior high students are learning in school.
We must also keep in mind opening schools will potentially impact staff, adults possibly with underlying conditions and a reduced ability to fight off a virus.
At a time when competent substitute teachers are in short supply, having children in school doesn’t achieve quality education if there aren’t qualified staff to help children learn.
That’s why the hybrid plan could potentially be so valuable. It will allow the district’s leaders the ability to adjust as the situation dictates.
We recognize distance learning wasn’t the picture-perfect scenario everyone hoped it would be when the COVID-19 arrival in Minnesota made ongoing in-school education untenable. There are too many students the district lost touch with, too many children in households unprepared and ill-equipped to have students home all day. The district knows distance learning was not in the best interest of children.
It was, however, the best plan available to address a situation without a playbook.
We understand distance learning has a negative impact on the psyche of children and families and applaud efforts to safely return them to some level of normalcy.
We’d enjoy seeing the governor, GOP education, and medical leaders publicly negotiate a return-to-school plan. Such a process, though highly unlikely because of its transparency, would allow us to know what worked, what didn’t and who to hold them accountable.
Earlier this summer, youth baseball coaches in Silver Lake saw their sons slipping into a funk and created a manageable, safe way to play ball.
It is disingenuous for people to sit on the sidelines and play Monday morning quarterback when they offered no helpful, sustainable solutions. McLeod-Meeker-Sibley Community Health reports the number of COVID-19 cases in our community more than doubled since June 1. Tests show there were 37 cases in McLeod County June 1 and 85 cases July 2. It reached 99 cases by Saturday, July 11. Testing shows us what is out there. It does not create cases that otherwise did not exist.
If we maintain the status quo, there is little reason to believe, as of today, those numbers will dramatically drop by the time school starts.
Safety and proper contingency plans must be the first consideration when preparing for the start of the school year.
-jm