After a year of distance learning from home, parents worldwide rejoice as schools begin to return to in-person learning fully. Campuses nationwide are reopening to students under strict Center for Disease Control (CDC) health and safety guidelines. Smaller class sizes, regular temperature checks, contact tracing, and increased cleaning and sanitation practices are just a few of the measures being put in place to protect the students and staff.
Vaccine rollout is increasing steadily across America, which means that more schools will return to everyday life as inoculation numbers increase. If you are in the business of managing schools or special education facilities, now is not the time to let your guard down. It is more important than ever to stay vigilant in our safety practices in stopping the spread of the virus. We cannot lose sight of the finish line before we cross it; eye on the prize. For this article, we will briefly discuss the things your educational facilities should be focusing on as we continue the fight against the coronavirus on the school front.
If It Ain’t Broke …
Unless you’ve been living entirely under a rock for the last year, you’ve probably heard about the basics defenses against spreading the coronavirus: wear a face mask or covering, wash your hands, and stay at least six feet apart from people in public places. As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” These methods are proving successful in lowering the spread of COVID-19 and should continue to be practice in the educational environment.
Wearing a Mask or Face Covering: Wearing a mask is still one of the most important things we can collectively do to help prevent the coronavirus spread. Masks are known as a type of “source control” and are often confused with being a “respirator.” Most of the masks that we see people wearing are meant to stop the spread of the virus from those people to others; in other words, wearing a mask protects other people from your germs. They only work if we all wear them and protect everyone from our collective germ spreading. On the other hand, respirators like the infamous “N95” masks filter out particulate matter from the air and act as respiratory protection for the wearer. Most of these masks have been sourced to medical personnel and first responders.
When working with children, it’s crucial to encourage and enforce proper mask-wearing. Children over the age of two are safe to wear masks at all times. Educate and inform students and parents where they can get the proper masks for their children. Encourage them to look for masks with tightly woven fabrics, such as cotton and cotton blends, that are breathable and have two or three fabric filtration layers. Avoid masks that only have a single layer or are made of loosely woven fabrics, such as loose knits. Take this opportunity to put a fun spin on the situation by encouraging students to express their personalities or interests in their choice of mask design. Make sure teachers are vigilant in monitoring that masks are worn correctly and at all times.
Cleaning Surfaces & Washing Your Hands: The fight against the coronavirus is won by vigilant cleaning and sanitation practices. Staff should be regularly preaching proper handwashing methods, and everyone should be practicing them regularly. For the classroom setting, the CDC recommends setting up one more dedicated handwashing station. Use posters near each station to remind students to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or, if soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, and wash with soap and water as soon as you can. If using hand sanitizer, rub hands together for at least 20 seconds. Young children may need supervision when using hand sanitizer.
Modify your standard procedures to accommodate regularly scheduled and consistent cleaning. Prioritize disinfecting surfaces that are routinely touched (e.g., doorknobs, light switches, classroom sink handles, countertops) and any items that must be shared. Note that not every surface needs to be disinfected every time it is cleaned.
Stay Six Feet Apart: Space students at least 6 feet apart, when possible. Have students sit in the same assigned seat every day. Consider working with administrators and teachers to standardize seating charts across classes. Turn desks to face the same direction (rather than facing each other), or have students sit on only one side of tables, spaced apart. Students can be instructed to avoid spinning or turning around in their chairs.
Students will need to move in, out, and around the classroom. Mark walking paths or provide physical guides, such as colorful tape on floors and signs on walls, to ensure that students remain at least 6 feet apart, where possible. Consider making these paths one way for students when entering and exiting the classroom making sure walking paths still comply with emergency exit procedures. Reduce the use of shared space and objects in the classroom. Keep each student’s belongings separated from others’ and in individually labeled containers, cubbies, or areas.
Fighting the Virus on Its Turf
One overlooked area that can help fight against the spread of coronavirus is your industrial air filtration system. If you haven’t had your system maintenance recently, now is the time. Schedule time for a technician to service and repair your system as soon as possible. Make sure to replace or upgrade your filters for the smallest filtration levels possible. Coronavirus is very small but can be removed from the airstream with a proper filter.
Open a door or windows to increase ventilation when weather conditions allow and with school administrators’ approval to increase fresh outdoor air. Opening interior doors can also improve ventilation and reduce touching of the doorknob. Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk (e.g., risk of falling, triggering asthma attacks).
Use fans to increase the effectiveness of open windows. Position fans securely and carefully in or near windows to not push potentially contaminated air directly from one person over or to another.
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