{"id":56946,"date":"2022-01-11T23:16:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T23:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/?p=56946"},"modified":"2022-01-11T23:16:54","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T23:16:54","slug":"schools-struggle-to-stay-open-omicron-covid-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/schools-struggle-to-stay-open-omicron-covid-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools are struggling to stay open as COVID cases are higher than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

The return to school after winter break has been anything but peaceful for students, school staff and their families. This week, the number of new COVID cases in the U.S.<\/a> is on track to triple the previous case rate record set during this time period last year. In the wake of exponential cases, schools are experiencing widespread absences and teacher shortages, and many districts are struggling to make decisions about whether to keep classrooms open at all.<\/p>

Burbio<\/a>, a tool that tracks public school disruptions nationwide, reports more than 5,409 school closures during the first week of January. In Baltimore<\/a>, more than a third of public schools are shifting back to online classes amid rapid increases in COVID cases. A large number of schools in Arkansas<\/a>, Pennsylvania<\/a> and Georgia<\/a> are doing the same. In New Jersey<\/a>, the governor has reinstated a statewide mask mandate for schools “for the foreseeable future.” In Chicago<\/a>, kids have been at home for days as the local teachers’ union battles with officials over COVID-19 safety protocols.<\/p>

In areas where schools remain open, parents report a high number of teachers and students missing classes each day. Substitute teacher shortages are being reported nationwide, from Hawaii<\/a> to New Jersey<\/a>, as well as reports of administrative staff filling in<\/a> to teach classes and do cafeteria and maintenance work.<\/p>

Journalist Dan Sinker writes for Esquire<\/a> that some teachers have told him their classrooms are “half empty, a quarter empty,” and in some cases, “districts have sent emails begging parents to fill in as substitutes.”<\/p>

“A fifth of the teachers in my kid’s high school are out with Covid,” one parent writes on Twitter. “It’s great to insist that schools stay open, but it’s kind of hard to do that without teachers.”<\/p>

https:\/\/twitter.com\/smotus\/status\/1478732118062682116?s=20<\/div><\/figure>

Many parents are also debating the safety of keeping kids in school while COVID cases rage. <\/p>

It's been 12 hours since the school opening announcement & I'm still struggling to digest the following:

Elementary schools will have hundreds of students, mostly unvaccinated all in 1 building, eating maskless together.

And we'll NEVER be told of covid cases.

This is a crisis<\/p>— Muna Kadri (@munakadri) January 11, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>