This Ohio school has reduced spacing measures and is open to everyone 5 days a week

For millions of families in the United States, it is a reminder of how things were a year ago before pandemics closed or a hopeful future was still too far away to see clearly.

Everyone wears a mask and the narrower halls are one-way. But teachers can move around the classrooms and students can easily ask questions and see their friends in the flesh five days a week.

Principal Melissa Ladowitz said she thinks there will be different challenges in getting her high school back in person amid fears that older children are more susceptible to catching and spreading the coronavirus, and with more national focus on the younger grade.

“High school students usually have a lot more freedom than lower-level students, but we knew we could teach them the new routines and procedures,” she said.

But even she was amazed at how well it went, even with staff demonstrating, modeling and enforcing wearing masks, keeping distance, and so on.

“They follow the routines,” Ladowitz said of her students. “We were amazed at how good.”

CDC guidelines reflect – and overwrite

The pressure to reopen the Southwest Licking schools began a few months ago when a summer survey among parents found that 70% of them want their children at school.

School superintendent Kasey Perkins said that once they had that mandate, they had to figure out how to make it work, and that they worked with local health officials to make a plan.

But there are no new ventilation systems – instead more doors are opened and corridors made one-way – and, critically, the health team said that 3 feet of distance between desks would be sufficient if students were masked, half the CDC’s recommendation of 6 feet.

This decision initially aroused skepticism, especially by teachers like Sleeper.

“In the fall I did not know what to expect. The lead was 6 feet and here we are going with 3 feet,” she said. “I was scared.”

Six months later, Sleeper’s thoughts light up.

“The spread is not there,” she said of coronavirus infections. “We just met our expectations and the kids followed it, and it was fantastic. You’re coming to high school and high school, and you think this is going to be a challenge … What we found is that they want to be at school and they like to follow our guidance and controlled environment. ‘

The relief of space needs was critical in the district. At Watkins Middle School, which has the largest student body of about 1,000 children, they turned every available space into a classroom for about 870 who returned.

Superintendent Perkins said there were a number of students and staff who tested positive for Covid-19, but not one case that was traced back to the school contract.

“I believe it’s because they wear their mask and do it diligently,” she said.

Fears of the unknown

Sleeper knows that it will be difficult for teachers to return. “I had a lot of teachers in the district who were opposed by the beginning of the year and not because we did not like children, but because there was the real feeling that they would get sick themselves.”

What made the difference for her is to see what happened to the protocols instituted by the district and their application.

“The only way to see it is to live it through. And I know it’s hard because you have to overcome the fear of getting into the classroom,” Sleeper said.

Perkins saw the fear among the staff of her district and asked that they trust her.

“It’s a difficult thing, and it was difficult for our staff,” she said. “I think if you asked them now, they would have told you it was the best decision we made.”

And she has an offer for those who are still nervous in other districts.

“Come to our schools, walk through and see our one-way passages. See our transition times,” she said. “Look at our classrooms, look at our cafeteria, look at what we did to achieve our success. You can model it yourself.”