
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, last week, US CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stated that agency officials are finalizing recommendations regarding school reopening and that official guidance should be published soon. The guidance is expected to play a major role as state and local governments and school systems across the country continue to debate how to safely return students and teachers to the classroom. The issue has been fiercely debated, extending to courtrooms and picket lines. Joe Biden has indicated that he aims for most K-12 schools to reopen within his first 100 days in office. One of the biggest issues is how to prioritize teachers for vaccination and if or how to resume in-person classes before they can be vaccinated. Dr. Walensky recently stated that vaccinating teachers is not a prerequisite for resuming in-person classes. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) includes teachers in its Tier 1b priority group, but Dr. Walensky indicated that schools can implement measures to mitigate transmission risk in the classroom until teachers can be vaccinated. In addition to teachers, there is also ongoing debate regarding the risk to students, most of whom are too young to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
Following protests in opposition to in-person learning in January, the Chicago Teachers Union approved an agreement with the nation’s third largest school district to resume in-person classes. With the agreement in place, Chicago avoids the risk of a teacher strike or lockout. While the agreement was approved by the union by a 2-1 margin, some are criticizing the terms as insufficient to protect teachers. Pre-kindergarten and special education classes will be among the first to return to in-person classes, followed by kindergarten through 8th grade returning for 2 days a week later this month or possibly in March. While in-person classes will resume, parents still have the option to continue remote/online learning for their students.
So when are the Ridgewood schools going to open full-time? It is time to prepare to open the schools 5 days per week! Private and parochial schools in the area have been successfully open since September, it is time to do it now.
We have no idea if these vaccines will be effective or not, clinical trials take years.
CDC dragging their feet because they are afraid of the teachers unions $$$$$$$$
The data is in…..private & parochial schools have shown us the science.
It must be great to know that you can keep going with the amazing endless paid vacation, while being able to make extra off-the-books money tutoring.
Of course teachers should be vaccinated.
CDC just announced schools NEED MORE MONEY to safely open.
Funny thing is the parochial schools did it without billions from Washington.
Never let a crisis go to waste.