Will Fort Worth area schools open for the fall? A glimpse at the huge challenges ahead

One of the clearest signs that we’ve figured out how to live with the coronavirus threat will come when children go back to school.

But getting there seems like an almost impossible task. Education leaders face a staggering number of decisions before they can open the doors. Every moment of the school day, every interaction, even the very structure of classrooms, have to be reconsidered.

“We know how to open a regular school year, but plans have to be changed, modified and ready to adapt,” said Fort Worth school district spokesman Clint Bond, who’s part of the leadership team working through myriad back-to-school issues.

Bond said that Superintendent Kent Scribner asked him to help district leaders think through “what keeps you awake at night. What’s the worst possible thing that can happen?”

It’s a tough job. But there are some guiding principles that district leaders, parents and public officials should follow.

First, health and safety must be top of mind, always. It’s no small relief that COVID-19 appears to have little effect on children. But that doesn’t mean they can’t spread it, and the teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and administrators caring for them will be at risk.

We all need to be patient and willing to adapt. With so many things to think through, there will be missteps. And we’ll have to be prepared to close schools completely again if a massive outbreak of coronavirus returns.

But the goal must remain the same: to effectively educate children and get our schools back to normal as soon as possible, while adapting to the reality that risk of the virus could be with us for years.

Fort Worth’s challenge

To consider the obstacles ahead, look at Fort Worth ISD. With more than 84,000 children across 143 facilities, and the added challenges of helping many poor families within the district, the logistics of the district’s work are complicated under normal circumstances.

The first consideration is the calendar. Bond said that the plan to start the fall semester on Aug. 17 has not changed, but there are several options.

One counterintuitive idea is to start a little sooner. California schools are considering that to help make up for lost time this spring and assist parents going back to work. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also noted such a suggestion by Dr. Deborah Birx, who argues that an earlier start could allow for a longer winter break that would help suppress an outbreak of COVID-19 or the seasonal flu.

A prime example of the cascade of decisions ahead is whether to screen students for a high temperature that might indicate a coronavirus infection. Do bus drivers screen children as they board? If so, what about children dropped off at school by their parents?

If all children are screened at the school doors, what happens if, as Bond noted, it’s raining out? And in all cases, what do you do with children who pop up with a fever?

Another huge challenge is maintaining the recommended distance between individuals. As we’ve seen, that’s hard enough for adults. Getting schoolchildren to do it means reconsidering everything from schedules to classroom configuration.

It seems inevitable that most districts will have to teach students in shifts, while online learning continues at some level to approach a full day of instruction. That, though, creates problems for families that rely on schools for childcare during the workday.

And for the school district, it could be a transportation nightmare. Bus schedules are already staggered among schools based on start times, Bond said. Now, the district has to figure out whether it has enough buses and drivers to essentially double its routes.

The administrative challenges schools normally face remain. Every school year, the district has to hire about 700 teachers as it is. What will it take to also replace those who might not be willing or able to teach because they’re more vulnerable to the virus?

Those are just a taste of the decisions that lie ahead. What about safely feeding kids lunch and, in many cases, breakfast? What happens to school sports? And after-school programs?

Where’s the money?

And looming over all these decisions, as always, is money. Governments at all levels are in for significant budgetary blows as the economy sinks. Under school finance legislation passed last year, the state assumed more of the share of costs for education. But the state’s two major sources of revenue — the sales tax and levies on the oil and gas industry — are dropping precipitously.

Fort Worth has one advantage in planning ahead, having shut down for days in 2009 to stop the spread of the H1N1 flu. Bond said that among the lessons learned there was the need for deep cleaning of schools to kill the virus — though he warned that it would have to be done with even more rigor to stop the even-more contagious COVID-19.

As school districts work through these issues, we should pause and reflect on what we’ve asked of our schools over the years. Ever since children came home for spring break and never went back, parents have joked about learning about how badly teachers need a raise.

As always, the memes are funny because they reflect a truth: Our schools transport, feed, teach, comfort, medicate and in some cases even clothe students in need.

There will no doubt be mistakes as they try to do those jobs amid a pandemic. Criticism is fair, even necessary, as we all adapt to the new normal.

But the importance of public schools to our communities and the rhythms of our lives should never again be taken for granted.