Based in Sydney, Australia, Foundry is a blog by Rebecca Thao. Her posts explore modern architecture through photos and quotes by influential architects, engineers, and artists.

Questions for WSSD

To the Editor, 

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District comprises extraordinary and resourceful people – teachers and residents alike. We encourage our community to have open dialogue that allows for genuine communication between parents, teachers, and the administration. Working together, we should be able to find a way to reopen our schools in a way that’s safe for both students and teachers.

COVID-19 has changed the world. A safe vaccine might take more than a year to make and distribute. While the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in the United States continues to increase, it is a medical fact that the mortality rate of this virus here has declined substantially. Infectious disease experts opine that the decline is due to two factors: (1) what the medical profession learned during the surge this spring, and (2) the fact that the vast majority of our population is distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands.

No one expected the leadership of a school district to have all the answers. That said, when a crisis hits, we expect a Blue Ribbon school district to be as creative as possible, which means challenging long-standing operating assumptions such as how to engage the community and the teachers in finding solutions to the challenges we face in reopening our schools.

Finding creative solutions requires open and transparent dialogue and sharing ideas that are not politicized and that do not fall into all-or-nothing categories. No proposal should be off limits. For example, instead of trying to open the entire district (and every sport and activity) at once, we should consider focusing on the children who most need in-person instruction (e.g., elementary school children and students with Individual Education Programs), then, perhaps, consider moving on to safely reopening the middle school and, finally, the high school.

We encourage every family in our community to submit their questions and concerns to the district before the upcoming September 14 school board meeting. Our own family will be asking the following questions:

  1. What do the teachers in our district need to feel safe before re-entering the schools?

  2. At least in the elementary schools, what preparations need to be completed between now and October to ensure the safety of both students and teachers?

  3. Does the district have thermometers, sanitizer, tents, masks, plexiglass dividers, etc.?

  4. Have the HVAC systems in every school been updated?

  5. Does every window in every classroom open?

  6. Has a professional cleaning service been hired?

  7. Does each school have a designated isolation area in case a child or teacher becomes ill at school?

  8. What strategies can WSSD adopt from the measures private schools have implemented?

As a community, we must do more. The physical and mental health of our children is at stake. Virtual instruction is NOT a viable solution for our school-age children, so we must take steps to make in-person school safe for everyone involved.

David and Jennifer Bloom
Swarthmore

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