US Schools Cannot Seem to Decide on In-person Learning

New York City reopened classrooms to many of its youngest students on Monday. Like many other school districts across the country, New York City still seems unsure about whether in-person learning¹ is safe from the coronavirus pandemic.

New York is the nation's largest school district, with 1 million students. It shut down in-person learning just two weeks ago, but decided² to bring back children about age ten and younger. Parents had pushed for reopening schools, and the mayor³ decided the move was safe with increased testing.

School districts in Detroit, Boston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and others, however, stopped in-person classes or dropped plans to bring students back because of increasing infections.

Shutdowns in some places and the return to school buildings in others are happening as virus cases continue to rise across much of the U.S. Nationwide, deaths are averaging about 2,200 each day. That is the same level as the deadliest period of the pandemic – last spring in the New York City area.

New virus cases are averaging close to 200,000 a day, the highest level on record. The number of Americans now in the hospital has reached all-time highs, at over 100,000.

The virus is now blamed for more than 280,000 deaths in the U.S. And there are over 14.8 million confirmed infections. The crisis⁴ is expected to worsen in the coming weeks because many Americans chose to ignore warnings to stay home and keep away from others over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.

Health officials say the virus does not appear to be spreading quickly in classrooms. That's because children may be less likely to spread or get the virus. Most cases among children and educators have been linked to activities outside school.

Still, the infections are worrisome for parents and teachers. Infections and quarantines among teachers and other school employees have left some schools without enough adults.

At the same time, parents have said their children are not getting a good education at home using their computers. Parents are also being forced to watch their children while trying to do their own jobs.

In South Carolina, COVID-19 cases have increased to levels even higher than those seen when the state was one of the nation's hot spots over the summer. School district officials there are considering reducing how much time students spend in the classroom. More than 2,450 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in South Carolina in each of the past three days.

One teacher group is asking school districts to go back to in-home teaching⁵ until the increase can be stopped. In addition to the health concerns, educators say in some cases there are not enough teachers to keep students safe.

The request is being taken more seriously after the death last month of 50-year-old Staci Blakely, a teacher in Lexington.

At least four school districts in South Carolina have returned to in-home learning. The largest district is in Orangeburg County⁶. It sent around 12,000 students home to learn this week until at least January. Only about 25 percent of the state's districts are teaching in person every day.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last month that school buildings would close after the city reached the 3 percent level of positive coronavirus tests.

The city reports the rate is now 5 percent. But de Blasio said new testing protocols⁸ made it safe to reopen classrooms. He added that few infections have been linked to the spread of the virus inside schools.

"This is a good day for New York City," de Blasio said Monday.

Miriam Petrovitch is a school employee who welcomed children back at a school in Manhattan.

"We miss them dearly," she said. "There's no school without children."

Words in This Story

district – n. an area established by a government for official government business

pandemic – n. an occurrence⁹ in which a disease¹⁰ spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

quarantine – n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

hot spot – n. a zone or area in which something is very active

positive – adj. showing the presence¹¹ of a particular germ¹², condition, or substance

protocol⁷ – n. a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

4 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

5 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

6 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

7 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

8 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

9 occurrence   

n.发生，出现，事件，发生的事件

参考例句：

• Two things account for its occurrence.发生这件事的原因有两个。
• For a military commander，winning or losing a battle is a common occurrence.胜败乃兵家常事。

10 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

11 presence   

n.出席；到场；存在

参考例句：

• Her presence lent an air of respectability to the occasion.她的到场使那种场合增添了崇高的气氛。
• His presence is indicative of his willingness to help.他的出席表示他愿意帮忙。

12 germ   

n.细菌，病菌，微生物；(想法等的)起源

参考例句：

• I have the germ of an idea.我有一个初步的想法。
• This was the germ of a book.这是一本书的源起。