Reopening Schools Might Actually Save Lives

4 ways remote learning could kill more students than COVID.

Introduction

With the academic year fast approaching, school districts across the country have been scrambling to put together some semblance of an acceptable reopening plan during a still white-hot pandemic.

In the face of the risks that mass gatherings have posed, and governments have warned us about, it might seem all to easy to just go with remote learning and call it a day. That was certainly my opinion a few months ago.

But it’s not that easy.

Schools provide so much more than education and are a backbone supporting millions of families. Lower income families are desperate for that support, especially after bearing the brunt of layoffs over the past several months.

So where to begin?

Recently, the American Association of Pediatrics released a statement encouraging schools to reopen for in-person instruction this fall. The most popular snippet in the press is below.

With the above principles in mind, the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.

When taken by itself, that may seem pretty cut and dry. A large association made up of doctors (not politicians or businessmen) is advocating for in-person classes. But like anything that seems so simple, there is more to the story.

Here is the full statement.

With the above principles in mind, the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.

The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.

Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.

This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality.

Beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has been substantial impact on food security and physical activity for children and families.

Let’s pick the rest of that statement apart one sentence at a time.

Education

The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.

This is the what many people think is the heart of the matter. Remote learning has already caused children to fall behind and continuing it through the upcoming school year will be a disaster.

In a study about online-only charter schools, the news isn’t good.

Even with all this intensive adult supervision and participation, the students enrolled in these schools still fell so far behind their peers in bricks and mortar classrooms that researchers concluded that the children might have been better off if they had never bothered to log on at all.

Going into this fall, the spring semester may seem like the good old days, because the students and teachers had 75% of the school year establishing a relationship, which is critical to student success.

One heavily-cited 2011 meta-analysis of 99 studies — with a sample encompassing about 130,000 students and 2,800 teachers — published by the Review of Educational Research concluded that teacher-student relationships have “substantial” effects on engagement and achievement, particularly for students from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and those with learning difficulties.

That last caveat about disadvantaged students is key. Parents know that students don’t just come home after school and do their homework by themselves. Helping their kids with schoolwork is part and parcel of being a parent.

However, remote learning vastly increases that burden, and if a student does not have the support of an adult due to work (or other) constraints, then that student is going to fall behind. And quickly.

“Even older children often need help working through complex math and writing assignments and science projects, and they often need help staying on task with their work,” says Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at Indiana University who studies how social inequalities affect families and schools.

“Having a parent with the time and mental energy to be the de facto teacher will inevitably give affluent white students with stay-at-home or part-time employed parents — or, more likely, mothers — an edge.”

While the move to alternate methods of teaching may have an overall positive impact on education, the cohort that is working through this change is going to suffer.

Aside from the intellectual impact, remote learning is going to shorten the lifespan of students in the long run.

High school students who miss at least three days a month are seven times more likely to drop out before graduating and, as a result, live nine years less than their peers, according to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report.

This is hard data to ignore, even in light of the pandemic.

Safety

Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.

Schools are so much more than just places to send your kids to learn their ABC’s. Along with academics, teachers constantly evaluate their students’ mental, physical, and emotional health. If something is wrong, schools have guidance counselors and social workers who can work on the external problems so the student can continue learning.

This holistic safety net has been missing since early spring, and already kids are feeling the effects. Some have even called the situation a “perfect storm” for abused children.

For instance, after just the first few weeks, there was an alarming increase in sexual abuse reports.

By the end of March, with much of the country under lockdown, there was a 22% increase in monthly calls from people younger than 18, and half of all incoming contacts were from minors.

Anxiety and depression are also rising, both of which have been shown to lead to substance use. And with depression comes years of effort to address its debilitating effects, effort that otherwise would have been allocated elsewhere.

(Note: I realize that I am seriously oversimplifying the depth and impact of mental health issues. This is not a deep dive into the particulars of mental and social health, just an overview within the context of assessing the impact of reopening schools in the fall.)

There has been much hand wringing over the increasing rate of “deaths of despair” among adults since 2000. Without proper support during the pandemic, this phenomenon could slam full force into the younger generation, too.

Security

Beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has been substantial impact on food security and physical activity for children and families.

Bear with me while I take some artistic license and skip ahead.

As mentioned in the previous section, schools are more than just learning centers. In addition to evaluating for safety, they also provide meals for kids who would otherwise go hungry.

One in five American children live below the poverty line, and over 2.9 million students live in households where they are unsure when they might get their next meal.

For all the partisan howling about cost, free and reduced school meals provide basic nutrition for almost 30 million students.

Schools already have a tough time bridging the “summer nutrition gap”, but if schools remain closed, that gap might extend until 2021. Here are some of the astonishing stats from a paper entitled, “Summer Hunger is Too Expensive to Ignore”.

Potentially 22,800 fewer child hospitalizations, saving $274 million in associated costs annually.
Potentially 81,600 more high school graduates each year.
Stopping the “summer slide” among kids from low-income families could save up to $50.6 billion in reteaching costs, equal to approximately 10% of the current total U.S. spending on K-12 education.

Aside from food, schools allow kids a place to play (even with the reduction in gym classes). The official verdict is still out on whether gym class has a positive or detrimental effect, but completely cutting out the option with remote learning isn’t doing children any favors.

Lastly, and this isn’t mentioned in the AAP statement, homeless children will have absolutely nowhere to go.

As defined by the McKinney-Vento Act, a homeless student is an individual who lacks a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”

These kids are already on the razor’s edge when it comes to everything we have already discussed. Taking away their only shelter after the lockdown and summer is potentially devastating.

Saving Lives

This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality.

This is the actual heart of the matter.

The AAP is making the case for reopening because they think reopening schools will save more lives than COVID might kill.

In world of focused on feelings, it’s this cold, heartless math that is holding sway. And I really can’t fault them for it because it works in other industries, too.

My profession is facilities management, and I sometimes have to deal with power outages to the buildings I oversee. During a discussion with a utility rep, I asked how they determine which areas to address first in a major outage (e.g. natural disaster). His response was surprising but logical.

When prioritizing areas, power companies start with the sub-grids that have the largest number of people without power first. Then grid with the second largest number of people. Then the third largest.

You may have thought that hospitals or emergency response would be first (they have generators, anyways), or even those neighborhoods with higher risk (i.e. older) customers. But no. The companies have found that even with those disparities, solving the problem the quickest for the largest number of people actually saves lives.

And this is the approach that the AAP is taking with reopening schools.

Conclusion

Nothing about this pandemic has been easy. Everyday things we once took for granted seem like a distant memory. Our world has been turned upside down, and no one knows if/when things might go back to some semblance of normalcy.

We are all under a terrifying amount of stress, and now parents are forced to decide whether or not they should send their kids into buildings that are either a) breeding grounds for a virus we don’t understand or b) the sole source of comfort and protection for their kids.

I wish I knew the answer, but the reality is that there isn’t one. Each family will have to make the decision that is best for them, and I wish everyone wisdom and grace when making it.

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