Don’t reopen Tri-City classrooms if we can’t knock down our COVID cases| Editorial

Everyone wants to see Tri-City kids back in school buildings this fall — at least in some capacity. But that should not happen if the coronavirus is still surging in the community.

This is a gut-wrenching call, but it is one that should be made if the Tri-Cities does not drastically reduce its number of COVID-19 cases.

While being in the classroom is the best way for teachers to connect with students, it makes no sense to close school buildings last spring when the disease was just getting a foothold — and then turn around and reopen them when the disease is spreading faster than before.

However, there is still time to get our COVID-19 numbers down, so we can’t waste the opportunity.

Officials with the Benton Franklin Health Department say the last survey showed 98% of Tri-Citians are now wearing masks when out grocery shopping, and the result of that effort should be seen in a week or two.

We hope that more people masking up will make a significant difference in the number of Tri-City COVID-19 cases, but there are other steps we must continue to take if we are going to safely return kids to school campuses.

Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee put a stop to large gatherings even for counties in Phase 3. He trimmed the number to no more than 10 except for attendings weddings, funerals and religious services.

That’s because reopening businesses has led to climbing COVID-19 numbers statewide, and health officials fear that if we don’t rein in the disease soon, we will be in crisis mode like other states around the nation that chose to loosen stay-home restrictions early.

Think Florida, California and Texas.

According to the Washington Post, more than 65,000 new coronavirus cases in the country were recorded Tuesday, July 21, adding to a nationwide tally of more than 3.9 million since the crisis began.

It’s getting so bad, even President Donald Trump has relented and is now wearing a mask sometimes in public.

Benton and Franklin counties are in a modified Phase 1, yet there are still too many people who refuse to take COVID-19 seriously.

We continue to hear reports of people pulling down their masks after they get past the entrance of a store, and there are still too many people gathering in large groups on both sides of the river.

We also routinely get calls from people who are angry that we continue to report the number of positive tests for the coronavirus, as well as the number of deaths connected to COVID-19.

Ignoring the statistics won’t make the disease go away and it certainly won’t keep the community safer.

Using the Internet instead of in-person teaching was a stop-gap measure last spring, and school officials did the best they could to make it work.

But there were many students throughout the state who fell off the radar when they didn’t have to be in class. They also missed out on all kinds of educational opportunities that can only happen if they are able to be physically present at school.

Some students do just fine with online learning. But many struggle. Some don’t have strong internet connections or even the parental support at home to keep them on track.

Most kids need that classroom atmosphere to thrive. They need to be able to see their teachers in person, and they need to be with their peers.

In order to make that happen, Tri-City school officials have been working hard to come up with a variety of teaching scenarios that could be implemented depending on what state officials allow. Those options range from online-only teaching to in-class teaching on modified schedules.

The Kennewick School District has released a comprehensive video on its website and wants parent input on its plan for next school year. The Pasco School District plans community meetings next week and Zoom meetings are being held for Richland parents this week.

The amount of thought that school officials have put into opening schools safely is impressive, and we encourage all parents to get involved and find out what options are being proposed by checking out their school district website.

There’s a little over a month to go before school starts — let’s rally for the kids and make the community safe enough so those who want to go back to the classroom have that chance.

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 12:15 PM.