If you’re a coronavirus-wary Hamilton County parent planning to send your child back to school in less than a month, we don’t envy you.
Just as was the case a year ago with so much conflicting information about the global pandemic itself, parents this summer must weigh whether their eligible children should receive a vaccine, whether their children should or should not wear a mask if they haven’t been vaccinated and whether they should seek an alternative to in-person learning if they’re worried about an outbreak in our low-vaccinated state.
We’ve been upfront about our belief in the coronavirus vaccinations and the good they do for the entire population, but we understand the skepticism and uncertainty about how to proceed.
Hamilton County Schools ended its mask requirement for students and staff on June 1, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still suggests students under 12 – who are not eligible for the vaccines – wear a mask and that classrooms still have a “layered” approach to prevent the spread of the virus, including maintaining 3 feet of space between students.
County school students will not have a hybrid option, HCS at Home, this fall, and this should be a good omen for student learning. Experts across the country have said the online learning with which many school districts finished the 2019-2020 school year and in which they spent part or all of the 2020-2021 school year has been devastating in terms of mastery and retention of subject matter.