Today’s entry: I’m confused. Hasn’t all of the “science” suggested schools are safe? The CDC’s guidance must be bunk science.
Bottom Line: On Friday, the CDC issued its updated guidance officially referred to as the “Plan, Prepare, and Respond” plan. The updated operational strategy plan includes a 36 page K-12 Mitigation Toolkit and a whole host of recommendations for a “hybrid” remote learning and classroom education model based on the concentration of cases and levels of community spread.
The CDC’s guidance uses a five-tiered color-coding system applying its new safety standards. Under the current guidance, 89% of students live in “red zones” and 99% of students currently attending school are in “red zones”. Those schools wouldn’t be open for classroom education if the CDC’s standards were applied. Only 115,000 students are enrolled in school districts currently considered low risk by the CDC.
What’s clear with this overhaul of school reopening recommendations is that there’s new leadership at the CDC. Is it truly political as Governor DeSantis alleges? With teachers' unions opposing classroom education nationally and many of those battles coming to a head right now, it’s possible. There is motivation in certain circles to close schools or to keep them closed.
Now about the bunk science thing, you’re right. In fact, it was none other than the CDC which issued findings on January 26th finding very little transmission within schools open for classroom education. Of course, that report had been complied by the CDC under it’s former director, Dr. Robert Redfield. So yes, the CDC’s new guidance directly contracts its own guidance from three weeks ago. Given that transmission rates have only dropped since then, it’s hard to rule politics out.
The CDC’s new guidelines suggest most schools across Florida and the United States should primarily be engaged in remote learning. It’s actual outcomes in South Florida. I’ve reviewed the outcomes for school aged children in Broward County.
Broward: 1,542 students detected with COVID-19 on campus. That’s 2.2% of the 69,000 kids in the classroom into date. However, 7.1% of Broward residents between the ages of 5-18 have had COVID-19 to date. That means 69% of Broward students who’ve contracted COVID-19 haven’t been on campus during the pandemic. Be mindful that it’s likely most of the students who tested positive for COVID didn’t contract it at school but rather were detected at school.
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