Thread by @thestate

HAPPENING NOW: How should #SC schools, educators and parents tackle the challenges we're facing in #education and learning during a #pandemic? Join our panelists in a conversation as we get ready for a new version of going #backtoschool. #LearningCurveSC thestate.com/learningcurve

Welcome to #LearningCurveSC. First up: @Rbrown_SCOpin is talking school safety with @greenhousemd and @plkelly27.

How can we be sure the issues happening in other states won't happen here?

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 "We have to follow public health guidance and the lessons of other states and countries that have reopened" schools, @plkelly27
says. "We cannot rush this." #LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 "We should absolutely not be trying to do this until it's safe to do it" -- when the science, numbers and public health experts tell us it's safe, says @greenhousemd. "And that when we do try to reopen, we do it with every possible precaution we can use." #LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 Even once we do reopen schools, @plkelly27 says school life will likely be significantly different. "We're going to have a new normal that we're going to have to deal with and we need everyone to buy in for these factors to work."

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 Pediatrician @greenhousemd says school districts need to find ways to offer critical support services to children who are learning virtually. "The needs are certainly there ... but the answer isn't necessarily pulling kids back in when numbers are sky-high." #LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 Question: What should the threshold of cases be for closing down classrooms and schools?

@greenhousemd says, "I'm not sure it's necessarily a set number," but a matter of contact-tracing and preventing large outbreaks from happening.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 Increasing testing is key, says @plkelly27, especially because the positivity rate in SC is still high. Testing will give a "better capacity to identify cases, isolate cases, and make sure we don't have COVID spreading throughout" schools, he says.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 Schools need families to monitor students, and when a positive is identified, doctors should be discussing necessary quarantine measures, @greenhousemd says - schools don't have the capacity to keep track of every family, so they need community to help.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @greenhousemd @plkelly27 It's important for families to make sure students are not spreading other, preventable illnesses by sending children to school while sick this fall, @plkelly27 says.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin UP NEXT: Inequities in education. Guests @RichlandOneSupe and @jazmyne_mccrae are here.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae How has the pandemic widened gaps in education?

"We're all waking up to see the hidden structures within schooling that affect us all differently," @jazmyne_mccrae says. "...All of these things are getting magnified because of a pandemic."

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae "I learn better when I have my teachers in my face," @jazmyne_mccrae says. "I can only imagine if you're 12, 13, 15, 5, what it is to lose that stability that a teacher provides no matter what color you are."

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae @RichlandOneSupe says structure is key when taking on virtual schooling. There needs to be follow-up everyday to keep track of students.

However, broadband access poses a major issue. "How do we bridge that gap while we're transitioning" back to school.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae "The first order of business is going to be some activities that validate students' feelings," @RichlandOneSupe says. "That's going to be critically important as we get started this year" in order to address basic emotional needs so that learning can occur.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae EmpowerSC's @jazmyne_mccrae says not only do students need support and emotional checks as school restarts, but so do teachers and staff.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae Question: How can teachers juggle planning lessons for various formats?

Collaborate w/other teachers, know your limits and do the best you can, says @jazmyne_mccrae.

@RichlandOneSupe says he doesn't want teachers doing "double-duty" and overwhelmed.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOneSupe @jazmyne_mccrae What keeps you up at night when you think about what students will face in months ahead?

@RichlandOneSupe: "How do we do those things that continue moving our students forward in this time?"

@jazmyne_mccrae: "Staying healthy" so as not to infect others.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin In the last segment, @RichlandOne teacher Christi Lewis and Dr. Antwon Sutton, superintendent of Chester County School District, join us.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne Do you fear for your safety in returning to the classroom?

Lewis says she does, and is hearing the same from teachers across SC.

"I have been in a bat cave for six months because I am in a high-risk category," so is worried about returning to school.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne Lewis said she considered leaving her job as a teacher due to COVID-19.

Dr. Sutton said he tries reassuring his teachers:

"I cannot guarantee them that ... they won't contract the virus," he says, but Chester County schools are doing all they can to keep teachers safe.

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne "As a classroom teacher, I just want to be with my babies, however I can," Lewis says. "I need to check in with them and see that they're OK...then we can proceed with educating them."

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne Question: How will districts accommodate students with exceptional and special needs while relying so heavily on virtual learning?

Dr. Sutton said Chester Co. schools want to get them in the classroom in small groups if possible, or do 1-on-1 virtual meetings.

#LearningCurveSC

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne Final thoughts: What keeps you up at night?

"Wanting students and our staff, everyone, to be safe," especially when COVID-19 impacts everyone so differently, Sutton says.

"I don't want to lose anyone," Lewis says. "I continue to push and advocate for virtual until it's safe."

@Rbrown_SCOpin @RichlandOne Advice for parents:

"The students feed off of how the adults react," so Dr. Sutton encourages people to keep an optimistic mindset.

Lewis says she encourages parents to keep asking questions, but that guidelines are constantly changing, so teachers might not have the answers.

@Rbrown_SCOpin That's a wrap for #LearningCurveSC. Thanks for tuning in! You can find all of The State's coronavirus and education coverage here:

thestate.com/news/local/edu…