The first weeks and scheduling of school has showed the holes in the American education system: the government has put pressure on schools and it’s showing for NACS.

Students received schedules on PowerSchool just days before the first day of school. This was the first glance behind the curtain. This goes against the norm and confused new students. Those not familiar with the building were not able to spend 30 minutes during registration finding their classes before the start of the first day. 

This was a rough start but could be looked over until the added problems of overcrowding at lunch and making teachers teach during their prep showed up.  

The school’s performance really showed how the government put money over the safety and well beings of students and staff. 

The school had to open from the pressure of the state. They had months to prepare for opening and didn’t do enough. 

Where are the markers on the ground in the lunch lines, so we can maintain social distance?

Where are the smaller classroom sizes?

Why am I in a classroom with so many people?

Where are the individual desks and 6 feet apart seating?

Without these measures, there is no way we should be open. The minuscule reward (attempting normalcy) is not worth the risk. We all want normal to return, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon. 

We should not risk the lives of students (and staff) for the reward.

If we can’t social distance, we shouldn’t be open.

If we can’t give children individual seating, we shouldn’t be open.

If we can’t give glass dividers in the classroom, we shouldn’t be open. 

The CDC suggests the lowest risk for personal schooling is smaller size classes with students staying within small groups. They also say students should stay with the same teacher across the day to lower the risk. 

The CDC websites says, “Students remain at least 6 feet apart and do not share objects (e.g., hybrid virtual and in-person class structures, or staggered/rotated scheduling to accommodate smaller class sizes).”

Sounds crazy, right?

No. Not at all. We are in a global pandemic and things need to be this way or students are going to get sick and die. It’s not crazy to do everything in our power to protect children. 

There are many states shutting down schools until winter, if not longer. The safety of the students and staff should not be worth less than money. 

Thejournal.com reports that Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming schools are closed until next May at the earliest. 

Not to mention all the other states that are closed for the entire year and the other pushed events like graduation back until May. 

Our fellow states and schools are putting the importance of their students and staff towards the forefront… why can’t we?

The mental health of the teachers that are already overworked should matter. The health and well being of the students should matter. A building that follows the CDC guidelines should matter. And the only reason these things don’t matter is that the leaders in place have decided that money is more important. 

Indiana needs to get it together or it won’t only be adults dying but our fellow classmates: our best friends, our football stars, our locker buddies, our girlfriends and boyfriends. We need to acknowledge that we are a long way away from making school work and an even longer way away from preventing this risk.

It sounds harsh, but I’m afraid it will take someone’s death for this to change.