Could Northeast Ohio schools hold classes outdoors to mitigate the risk of the coronavirus?

Outdoor classes India

Kashmiri students attend an open-air early morning class inside Eidgah, a ground reserved for Eid prayers, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, July 18, 2020. Northeast Ohio schools would face significant challenges if they moved classes outdoors this fall, educators said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)AP

CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Ohio school districts prepare to resume classes amid the coronavirus pandemic, many in the Cleveland area have been debating whether to bring students back to the classroom or stick with the virtual models adopted when the crisis struck earlier in the spring.

Other schools across the globe have taken a different approach.

Denmark kept its schools open in the spring by reducing the size of classes and moving many of them outdoors, where public health experts say the risk of transmission is lower. The strategy worked because Denmark did not see a rise in cases linked to its schools, according to The Guardian. Other countries, including India, have taken a similar approach in returning to school in recent months.

The idea of moving classes outdoors has been used before in the U.S. When tuberculosis ravaged cities in the early 20th century, schools in Rhode Island moved to open-air classrooms. At the same time, students in New York City took classes on a rooftop and an abandoned ferry. Denmark’s recent success has schools in California, Maine and Michigan considering a similar use of outdoor courses to bring students back this fall.

In Northeast Ohio, though, many school districts have not included outdoor classes in their reopening plans. Limited outdoor space, the eventuality of the weather turning colder, and a lack of access to technology and classroom essentials like blackboards are primary concerns. There are also safety concerns of exposing children to potential threats outdoors, especially at a time when Cleveland and other major cities are seeing spikes in gun violence, educators said.

“There’s just a whole lot of logistics that would need to be worked out on it,” said Melissa Cropper, the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers union that represents 20,000 educators across the state. “That’s not to say that it’s impossible. But I think it would take a whole lot of prep and forethought and planning for all the different types of scenarios in order to make it workable.”

At least 15 of the 31 school districts in Cuyahoga County have already announced plans to begin the year with virtual classes. Others have said they’re considering such a move after the Cuyahoga County Board of Health recommended Thursday that school districts use remote learning for the first nine weeks of the year.

Some school districts, like Bay Village, have considered incorporating outdoor classes into their reopening plans. The district is exploring whether it can obtain enough comfortable seating for students and expand WiFi access to cover outdoor spaces, its technology coordinator said in an email.

Teachers with the Strongsville City Schools could also consider holding some classes outdoors, Superintendent Dr. Cameron M. Ryba said.

“However, it will not be planned as a daily alternative [to] instruction in the classroom if the school district is open for in person learning,” Ryba said in an email.

Medical experts generally agree that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is lower outdoors. The coronavirus is generally spread via respiratory droplets that emerge from a person’s mouth as they talk, cough or sneeze. The air will dilute those droplets outdoors, said Dr. Amy Edwards, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

Holding classes outdoors is just one of the out-of-the-box ideas school districts could -- and should -- consider if they choose to bring students back this fall, Edwards said.

“COVID is a time to explore other options,” she said. “And I think there are a lot of other options.”

Even moving outside wouldn’t be a surefire way to keep students safe, said Dr. Nick Dreher, an internal medicine and pediatrics specialist at MetroHealth. Students would still need to wear face masks and maintain physical distancing in addition to being outdoors.

“If you’re talking about any congregation of people inside versus outside, because COVID is a respiratory disease, outside is always safer,” Dreher said. “But nothing is a panacea.”

Outdoor classes aren’t as simple as going outside

Holding classes outdoors isn’t as simple as heading outside to some green space or an empty basketball court, educators said. It could require additional seating or a tent to keep children in the shade, among other things. And those things cost money.

Denmark allocated more money to its schools so administrators could hire more teachers and make the changes they need to move classes outside. But Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced $300 million in cuts to K-12 public-school funding to balance the state budget.

Even if schools did have the money needed, outdoor learning could affect students. Some students may have trouble concentrating if they’re distracted by the noise of a passing car or a chirping bird, said Scott DiMauro, the president of the Ohio Education Association.

“As a practical matter, it’s hard. It’s really hard to do academic instruction outside,” DiMauro said. “There are a lot of things that make it impractical in a lot of ways.”

The OEA, which represents more than 121,000 teachers, faculty and support professionals, previously called for remote learning in counties with high infection rates. The union polled its members last month and found 69 percent do not believe schools can reopen safely in a few weeks.

DiMauro acknowledged that certain classes might be more conducive to outdoor learning than others. Physical education and music, for example, could be moved outdoors without too much hassle. Science classes could also benefit from being outdoors, especially if the class is focusing on plant life or the environment.

But holding classes outdoors is more challenging with other subjects. Teachers may need to use blackboards or whiteboards to work out challenging math equations for their students. And any class involving a computer would need to remain indoors.

Outdoor classes create safety and inequity concerns

Outdoor classes also present other troubling issues for educators. The option may be more feasible for suburban schools in higher-income areas, where campuses are large and have plenty of green space. But it could disadvantage urban schools in lower-income areas, where green space might be hard to come by, educators said.

“This pandemic has exposed and exacerbated deep levels of inequity,” DiMauro said. “This would be another example, even though it’s well-intentioned.”

Schools with limited green space on campus could move to a local park, but that would create a whole host of safety concerns. Districts would need to hire more staff or find volunteers to watch the children, similar to the way parents serve as an extra set of eyes on a field trip.

Moving outdoors also exposes students to outside threats. Districts have been working for years to create safety plans for active shooters and other emergencies, but those plans are designed for the inside of a building. Even a nearby threat that does not directly involve a school could be a concern, Cropper said.

“We have schools in neighborhoods that still have to go on lockdown periodically because of things that happen in their neighborhoods,” Cropper said. “In those places, you don’t necessarily want to be outside all day long.”

Even if school districts could address every challenge that comes with moving outdoors, they cannot address the core problem of the coronavirus itself, DiMauro said. He said it’s important to keep in mind why some schools are even considering outdoor classes in the first place: the threat of infection.

“It’s recognition that if you have groups of students and teachers in confined spaces for extended periods of time, especially in places where you don’t have good ventilation, a lot of people are concerned that can essentially be a petri dish for the spread of the virus,” he said.

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