Scientifically Speaking: On A Safe Return To School Buildings

Post-script: I stopped writing about science in August because I felt frustrated that no one was listening to me, that no one cared what I had to say. I've struggled with feeling like I have a duty to educate people about science at the same time I need to protect my own sanity and not waste time and energy on fruitless endeavors. As COVID cases rise around the country, I've decided to share the letter I sent to the school district I am employed by.

In-person school resumed in my district on Thursday September 10th. By Wednesday September 16th, the high school needed to switch to fully remote instruction because of six COVID positive students. We resumed in-person instruction on Thursday October 1st. On Sunday October 18th, staff were notified that 3 new students had tested positive for COVID and the district and health department were monitoring the situation. By Thursday October 22nd, we were fully remote again as another 3 students had tested positive. We were scheduled to resume in-person instruction on Monday November 9th, but got an email on Sunday night that we will continue to be remote until at least November 30th.

There are at least 23 kids who have tested positive in the past two weeks, with no end in sight to cases. The town health officer is reporting that some families are saying they will not keep their COVID positive or COVID exposed children home. There are parents signing a petition to demand 5 day a week in-person instruction. About 150 students marched to the Board of Ed on Monday to protest the halt of the fall sports season.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to post record numbers of COVID infections - over 100k a day. New Jersey has been reporting more than 2000 new cases a day for a couple of weeks - today we hit over 3800. Union County's case positivity rate is above 7% - the recommendation for opening schools was predicated on low case positivity rates. The last time NJ had that many positives was in April, during the peak of the first wave. This virus is not going to go away with people continuing to act like it doesn't exist or isn't a big deal. How many deaths and permanent health effects will be enough?

August 13, 2020

Dear Doctor Dolan and Board of Education members,

First, I would like to say that I appreciate the hard work that members of the Westfield School District community have put into trying to develop a plan to reopen the physical school buildings. I understand that this was a herculean task given the short amount of time between when Governor Murphy and the NJDOE released their “The Road Back” document and when tentative plans needed to be submitted to the state. However, I am writing to document my concerns about the Westfield School District plan, as it currently exists.

For those who do not know me well, I have been a teacher at Westfield High School for 13 years and I am the parent of two rising freshmen. A few words about my background: I have a B.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in biomedical science, during which time I took advanced course work in immunology. I spent 8 years working in labs before making the career switch to science communication and education. Therefore, I am looking at reopening through the lens of science. A safe return to physical buildings is predicated on extremely low community transmission (<1 case / 100,000 people) and a robust system to detect community spread¹. Multiple public health experts from around the globe have stated that community spread of SARS-coV2 (COVID-19) is inevitable without the ability to test, contact trace and isolate individuals who are sick and have been exposed^2,3.

In New Jersey and around the country, we have seen delays of a week or more in getting COVID19 test results. Governor Murphy recently opined that the delays may get worse in the near future^4,5. Contact tracing has also been problematic in NJ, with Governor Murphy reporting that only 63% of COVID positive folks responded to contract tracers and then about 45% of those folks refused to provide information about their close contacts^6,7. Throughout the summer, New Jersey has witnessed an increase in the effective reproductive rate of the virus (R_t)⁸. Much of this uptick has been associated with younger cohorts assembling for social gatherings during the summer^9,10. No doubt you are aware of the fact that Westfield made national news in July for a spike in COVID in the under 25 group.

Even more alarming, as summer camps and schools have begun to reopen, we are witnessing unprecedented numbers of infected children^{11,12,13,14,15}. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, between July 9 and August 6th, 179,990 children around the country tested positive – a 90% increase over previous reports¹⁶. This is likely an undercount, as it is estimated that as many as 40% of infected individuals are asymptomatic¹⁷. We’ve already begun to see southern schools shut down in response to outbreaks less than a week after reopening. One district in Georgia opened on August 3^rd and has already had to quarantine almost 1200 students and staff.¹⁸ We may not have the same COVID numbers as Georgia right now, but New Jersey is not special – the virus is still circulating in our communities and we will see increases in infections if we give it the right environment.

To address specific questions of the feasibility of a safe return to Westfield school buildings in September, I have gone through the district plan and frequently asked questions document to identify areas that I believe need to be addressed before students and staff return.

· HVAC systems have a fresh air component to their operation. All filters for air conditioning units are maintained as per manufacturers’ recommendations based on the type of equipment.

There is growing evidence that SARS-coV2 is spread through certain air conditioning systems and that SARS-coV2 is airborne^19,20. For example, a recent hospital study showed that infectious virus could be found as far away at 17 feet from sick patients – the room had six air changes per hour and was fitted with efficient filters, ultraviolet irradiation and other safety measures to inactivate the virus before the air was reintroduced into the room²¹. How do our current systems compare to that? Does your statement mean that the school building systems are fitted with MERV13 filters that are most effective at removing viral particles? If not, what other systems are being explored to keep air quality as safe as possible (UV lights, etc)? How will you be addressing the air quality in classrooms that may have few windows, difficult to open windows or lack central air conditioning for cooling?

· Face coverings are required for staff and students while in the building, unless it will inhibit an individual’s health as documented by a physician.

Research shows that cloth masks predominantly work by preventing expulsion of large quantities of infectious droplets into the air; cloth masks are not particularly effective at preventing uptake of particles once they are in the air. How will students and staff be protected from individuals who are not wearing masks in the school buildings? Will face shields be mandatory for these individuals to help minimize their respiratory droplets in the air? Will students not wearing masks have something to identify that they are in compliance with district policy? Will staff be responsible for ensuring that students (other than those with exemptions) are wearing their masks properly? If a student refuses to wear a mask properly and does not have an exemption, what is the course of action?

· Mask breaks will be provided.

How will this be accomplished? Removing masks indoors even for short periods of time defeats the purpose of masking in the first place. If you are proposing students be outside the buildings in large numbers, how are you addressing security? You also reference that students will be able to fill water bottles in school. Will mask removal for drinking be allowed anywhere in the building?

· Student desks and seating in classrooms, cafeterias, multi-purpose rooms, and other spaces will be placed 6 feet apart. When social distancing is not possible, physical barriers and other measures will be utilized to maintain safety.

How will safety drills be accomplished according to these guidelines? Will there be no more active shooter drills? How will distances be maintained during fire drills?

· Schedules will accommodate limited mixing or passing of students in common areas such as hallways and bathrooms; cafeterias and gymnasiums may be utilized by small student cohorts to aid in social distancing protocols.

How will social distancing be enforced in the hallways between classes in the upper grade levels? Even with half the WHS student body, there is not enough space to keep all students 6 feet apart in all directions when traveling. How will bathroom usage be regulated so that students are not overcrowding or socializing in there? How will you ensure that enough bathrooms are available for staff so that they may remain apart? Recent studies have shown that SARS-coV2 is present in human waste and flushing toilets creates a vortex of potentially viral containing particles in the air^22,23. How will you minimize the viral particles in the bathrooms? Will the toilets have lids or self-flushing mechanisms installed if they do not already have those features? Will all sink faucets and soap dispensers also be automatic?

· Staff is encouraged to use telephones and intercoms for interactions with the main office and colleagues in other classes to minimize staff-to-staff interaction and maintaining social distancing.

How will staff access to the faculty lounge and main office (where photocopiers/scanners are located) be regulated such that distancing can be maintained? How often will these high traffic spaces be cleaned? If staff are encouraged not to congregate, where will staff work when they are not teaching in a classroom if it is not possible to keep 6 feet apart in office or faculty lounge spaces?

· Parents/guardians will be required to take the temperature of their child(ren) each morning no more than one hour before the start of school. They will manually enter the temperature reading into a daily online form that will include a brief health questionnaire regarding COVID-19 symptoms.

Public health officials have cautioned that temperature checks will not avert all community spread, as there are plenty of people who can be infected and not have a fever^24,25,26. However, asking parents and staff to check temperatures daily and report it using the honor system alone is foolhardy. It relies on everyone in the community acting responsibly and being considerate of others. However, we continue to see people all around the state (including Westfield) disregarding public health advice to use masks, keep socially distant and not have large gatherings. We know that students often come to school ill so that they do not miss days. How can we rely on the accuracy of these reports? If a parent does not enter a response for a particular student, how will the staff be alerted to this fact to prevent entrance of that student to the school building? Will students be expected to wait in a socially distanced lines to have staff check if their name is on the digital temperature form?

· If a student or staff member is suspected to have COVID-19, the district will comply with the CDC and New Jersey Department of Health recommendations that the classroom and work areas where the student or staff member was located should be closed off for at least 24 hours prior to being cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected.

Where will instruction occur for classes whose classrooms need to be shut down for this process? In the upper grade levels (6-12), where an infected student or staff member may have moved through 4+ classrooms, how will this be feasible to find replacement rooms? Does that mean that all those classes must be taught 100% remote until the classroom is cleared?

· If a student or staff member is exposed to COVID-19 at home and/or outside of the school building, they should self-quarantine and monitor symptoms for fourteen (14) days from the last date of exposure. Exposure is defined as being within 6 feet of a COVID-19 positive person for 10 minutes with or without wearing a mask.

There is no clear policy on how school community members (students and staff) who may have been exposed to someone who is COVID-19 positive at school will be notified of their risk nor how quarantining will be achieved. This is asking for community spread in our schools.

· Each building will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected on a daily basis.

This was the practice pre-COVID. How will you address the fact that students and teachers in many of the school buildings change rooms multiple times throughout the day? How will classroom spaces be cleaned in between periods, if passing times are 10 minutes or less? If there is not enough custodial staff to sanitize each room between classes, do you believe it is appropriate to expect students or staff to clean work surfaces? Will there be any legal ramifications to staff if a student contracts COVID from a space they are assigned to clean?

· Families will have the option to choose the A/B Hybrid Model or All Remote Learning.

I applaud Governor Murphy and the NJDOE for making the decision to allow families the flexibility to safeguard their children as they feel is necessary. One of my sons is asthmatic, as well as my husband, so I am grateful to be able to lower their risk of contracting COVID by having my boys do their instruction 100% remotely. However, I have serious concerns about the fact that the same consideration is not being afforded by the Governor to all the staff of school buildings. I am also concerned about educational equity between students who are engaged in hybrid instruction and fully remote instruction. What safeguards will be in place to ensure that equity is achieved between these two groups?

· Teachers will broadcast live lessons during each of their assigned periods for students to take part in synchronous learning activities.

Teachers will be wearing facemasks at a minimum and potentially other PPE like face shields that could impair the quality of their enunciation for recordings. We have not yet tested the district’s servers’ ability to allow for livestreaming from every classroom. Last spring, there were problems with video quality when streaming through WebEx when we were not requiring every course to be synchronous. What has changed to fix this problem?

· Per the New Jersey Department of Education, all school districts in New Jersey must resume some form of in-person instruction for September 2020.

This is not what “The Road Back” document states. Instead, it says “Accordingly, absent a shift in the public health data, school buildings will open in some capacity for in-person instruction and operations in the Fall.” It does not say that all students must be inside the buildings, nor does it say that in person instruction must resume in September. Today’s press conference gave further clarification on that point – if all safety guidelines cannot be met by September, districts do not need to open their doors to everyone. Many other districts are following public health authorities lead on this issue and are either remaining entirely remote for all students until later in the fall or opening the doors only to the youngest or most vulnerable students.

This will be my 14^th school year with the Westfield district. I have come to see Westfield as my home away from home and my colleagues as my extended family. I am incredibly proud of the students I have taught over the past 13 years. I have always looked forward to the start of the school year and meeting my next group of students. But this year, I want to keep everyone safe – my colleagues, all the students of Westfield, the families of our school community members – so that we may grow together for many years to come. Right now, I believe that means opening schools with 100% remote instruction in the fall.

Sincerely,

Dana Philipps

Citations

1. https://globalepidemics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pandemic_resilient_schools_briefing_72020.pdf

2. https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions

3. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/school-openings-across-globe-suggest-ways-keep-coronavirus-bay-despite-outbreaks

4. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/08/coronavirus-testing-delay-already-sucks-according-to-murphy-it-could-get-worse.html

5. https://www.roi-nj.com/2020/07/22/healthcare/lagging-turnaround-times-on-tests-becoming-n-j-s-biggest-problem/

6. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/08/most-nj-covid-19-patients-arent-giving-contact-tracers-the-information-they-need.html

7. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/07/more-people-are-refusing-to-cooperate-with-coronavirus-contact-tracers-heres-why-that-could-spell-disaster.html

8. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/08/njs-coronavirus-rate-of-transmission-is-rising-heres-how-its-calculated.html

9. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/08/murphy-reverses-indoor-gathering-rules-in-nj-after-a-spike-in-the-spread-of-coronavirus.html