Many parents know the Staples commercial where parents are skipping down the aisles buying school supplies while children follow behind with sad faces, not wanting their summer to end.

I suspect it will be a little different this year with COVID-19.

This is the time when retailers start advertising their specials for back-to-school supplies.

This is the first time in 18 years I won’t have all of the ads in front of me, comparing prices and developing a game plan for finding the best deals, as my 22-year-old son graduated from college in May.

In 2016, when we were planning for his move to a dorm at a college out of state, we were also purchasing bedding from Bed Bath and Beyond, a coffee maker, a laptop and books and coordinating dorm essentials with two roommates we didn’t know. This life event was huge for our son and for us as a range of emotions and worry were added to the excitement we all shared.

The college my son attended has announced classes in the fall will be online with some in-person instruction. Dorms will be at 33-percent capacity. Everyone in the dorm will have a private room and bathroom due to COVID-19.

I suspect many colleges and universities will be making similar decisions for the fall if they haven’t already.

For the K-12 schools in the Lehigh Valley, not all have announced their final decisions, but many have spent months developing a preliminary plan to open schools in the fall, which may include some online classes and some in-person classes.

Is this approach ideal for everyone? Absolutely not. But what are the alternatives?

On July 7, during comments made at The White House, President Donald Trump weighed in on students returning to school in the fall.

“We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it. It’s time to do it,” Trump said.

“So what we want to do is we want to get our schools open,” Trump continued. “We want to get them open quickly, beautifully, in the fall. And the - as you know, this is a disease that’s a horrible disease, but young people do extraordinarily well. I was with the governor of New Jersey. We were talking, and he said, out of - and he mentioned a number which is a very high number, but it’s a - it’s a number, nevertheless - thousands of people, there was only one person that died that was under 18 years old in the state of New Jersey, and that was somebody, I guess, had a problem with perhaps diabetes or something else. But one person out of thousands of people - one person died, who was under 18 years old. So that’s a pretty amazing stat, when you think of it,” Trump said.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at a press briefing by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Coronavirus Task Force July 8.

“Ultimately, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ schools should reopen; it’s simply a matter of ‘how.’ They must fully open, and they must be fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders.”

DeVos went on to say, “What needs to be in place for things to be successful: Education leaders need to examine real data for their own states and communities and weigh the risks.”

She described risks as physical health and safety, mental health, social emotional development and lost opportunities for students, particularly the most vulnerable among us and students with disabilities.

While DeVos reiterated the importance of getting students back into the classrooms on CNN and Fox News July 12, she was unable to explain how that could be done safely.

Rep. Ayanna Presley, D-Mass., tweeted July 12, “I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant, let alone my child.”

Regarding the threat that federal funding would be withheld if schools did not open, DeVos said, “American investment and education is a promise to students and their families. If schools aren’t going to reopen and not fulfill that promise, they shouldn’t get the funds.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted by tweeting, “President Trump and his administration are messing with the health of our children as they seek to rush schools to reopen.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reacted by saying, “If anybody sat here today and told you they could reopen the schools in September, that would be reckless and negligent of that person.”

“I double dog dare Donald Trump to sit in a class of 39 sixth-graders and breathe that air without any preparation on how we are going to bring our kids back safely,” said Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of National Education Association.

On July 10, as reported by WGAL, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said schools will reopen this fall, but it will likely be a combination of online and in-person classes.

Wolf said the decisions about the balance of that combination will be up to individual school districts.

“We need to do everything we can to continue the education process. We’re going to lose a lot in our economy, our society, our political system if we deprive our kids of an education. So we’re doing everything we can to make sure the schools are open,” Wolf said. “The goal is to make it so that every school district is opening in a way that makes their parents, their students, their teachers and other educators and staff members feel safe,” Wolf said.

How is that possible with COVID-19 cases rising?

What if Pennsylvania goes back to in-school sessions and a student is then diagnosed with COVID-19? Will the teacher and all students in the classroom have to quarantine for 14 days? What about the students who rode the bus with that student and the bus driver? What if one of those exposed students takes COVID-19 back to their home with at-risk parents or grandparents?

I’m told precautions will be in place according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines, including the wearing of masks.

On Facebook, there is a funny parody of how students may cope with wearing a mask for six hours a day - pulling the mask off to sneeze, crying saying they don’t want to wear the mask, taking the mask down off their face to show their friends the design, etc. Funny, but not really - more like realistic.

I also read online a question on whether students will need to bring their own food to school. How will that work for the students who rely on the meals at school?

I do think parents and guardians will be shopping for supplies and students will have to be told they cannot share their supplies with other students.

If online classes are part of fall opening, how will parents incorporate that into their work schedules? Will the day care facilities be fully operational, and what is the risk to sending children there?

Parents and guardians are faced with so many questions surrounded by worry; hopefully, the school districts will work through and alleviate any concerns.

We must recognize our students are excited to begin their school year - whether it be in K-12 or in college. We can encourage our students while reinforcing the necessary safety precautions that must be taken should schools reopen their buildings.

I suspect this will be our new normal for a very long time.

Stay well.

Debbie Galbraith

editor

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press