Reopening Our Schools Amid COVID-19: From the Eyes of Our Children and Educators

REOPENING OUR SCHOOLS From the Eyes of Our Children and Educators

PRACTITIONER BRIEF

With appreciation We are grateful to the families and educators who partcipated in this program and worked together to help us understand the options for students and schools in these challenging times. We appreciate their willingness to take this learning journey together.

REOPENING OUR SCHOOLS From the Eyes of Our Children and Educators Georgia Ann Lazo, Ed.D., UCLA Lab School Principal

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE The novel coronavirus pandemic forced schools nationwide to make a rapid shift to remote teaching and learning in a matter of days. At the time of this publication, the new academic year approaches, and schools are faced with designing plans to reopen under multiple restrictions that require school site administrators to alter standard operations. Whether or not schools actually open, we are mindful of the disproportionate burden that will fall on poor children of color and those families and schools with minimal resources. State and county health guidelines have been useful, yet little is known from our school site leaders, parents and students about how best to implement the guidelines and what is needed to optimize a smooth reopening for our students, their families and our teachers.

We aim to privilege the voices of those who work close to students and to position our paraprofessionals and parents as experts.

The purpose of this brief is to assist school site administrators, educators and parents in making logistical decisions and operational adjustments to support students’ instructional and social-emotional success, focusing on direct feedback from students, parents and school site educators in three areas: 1) use of face coverings, 2) physical distancing, and 3) symptom monitoring.

UCLA Lab School is an elementary laboratory school with approximately 450 students, operated by UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. UCLA Lab School’s mission is to promote innovation in teaching and learning, research and public engagement. This brief is intended to be of public service in supporting the re-opening of schools. It starts with providing context and descriptions of our Fall Readiness Pilot Program 2020 and its participants. The section on observations and feedback is grouped into five subsections: children’s experiences, adults’ experiences, children and adult interactions, responding to neurodiversity and special needs, and logistical versus learning challenges. The paper concludes with 12 specific recommendations.

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SITUATION AND CONTEXT On March 11, 2020, UCLA Lab School students started remote instruction with one day’s notice. When the pilot program/day camp started on June 29, 2020, students and educators had not been on the campus nor seen each other for in-person school activities for more than three months. An interdisciplinary task force was convened on June 8, about three months before the anticipated start of the new school year. The task force was comprised of school community members who are teachers, researchers, physicians, university leaders, public health experts, architects and support staff. The purpose of the task force was to position parents and school community members as partners and to garner expertise, cooperation and commitment from multiple perspectives. The task force was organized into subcommittees with a cross-section of members around four domains: Instruction, Health and Safety, Mental Health and Social-Emotional Support, and Operations. Some of the formative data from the pilot program helped to inform recommendations by the task force, especially related to health, social-emotional support and operations.

PARTICIPANTS Thirty-six students participated in the pilot program (not a research study), which was run as a day camp for three weeks, from June 29 to July 17, at the UCLA Lab School campus. Eight educators led both instructional and recreational activities indoors and outdoors. Students were placed into stable cohorts of about 8–10 students in four different classrooms with two educators per classroom. There was no mixing of students or educators across cohorts. Two administrators were on site daily to help with supervision, and one full-time licensed vocational nurse assisted with daily temperature checks and was available for any health-related matters. Two additional operational support staff assisted with carpool responsibilities and with temperature checks at drop-off and pick-up times. The educators were teaching assistants and paraprofessionals. The educators’ experience ranged from 4 years to 49 years, with the majority of the participating adults having between 15 to 30 years of experience.

Two custodial staff were also on site daily to assist with cleaning and sanitization.

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PLANNING, PREPARATION, COMMUNICATION & FORMATIVE DATA Prior to starting the program, a documentation tool was developed by the assistant principal with support from a task force member with expertise in public health. The tool was designed to gather information from the educators about use of masks and physical distancing and the impact on classroom activities and learning (See https://bit.ly/3ifUPbY). Prior to starting the program, a virtual training session was conducted with all the educators and support staff to review operational and supervision responsibilities including use of the documentation tool.

The principal also conducted one separate informational meeting prior to the start date of the program, which included all participating parents. This session also included educators, with the target audience being parents. The virtual session was video-recorded for accessibility. The informational session for parents explained carpool logistics for drop-off and pickup, the need for temperature checks and required screening for daily symptom monitoring. An FAQ was shared, using common questions from parents and educators.

The principal and assistant principal facilitated weekly debrief sessions of 45–60 minutes each with the educators and support staff. The three debrief sessions provided opportunities to listen to the educators’ feedback, gauge progress with use of masks and physical distancing and dialogue about strengths and needs. The purpose was to make needed adjustments to the educators’ and students’ daily routines and support systems and to demonstrate the need for adaptiveness, based on ongoing observations and direct feedback from the participants themselves.

The principal sent two brief messages to families to highlight strengths and needs. Families also received a message with a video of the first day’s activities. This served to demonstrate to parents what the safety protocols entailed and to see their children and the staff in action. Surveys were disseminated to the parents and the students at the conclusion of the program.

Classroom layout and space configurations were prepared and modified with desks spaced apart, and individual supplies of pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, etc., were assembled in packets for each child. Hand sanitizer was placed at each table.

Floor markings and signage with reminders of safety strategies were installed in advance and supported efforts to maintain physical distancing and use of face coverings.

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OBSERVATIONS AND FEEDBACK The student survey questions used language from UCLA Lab School’s Safe School System, a schoolwide approach that articulates and reinforces values of kindness, respect, responsibility and integrity.

The educator observation data, educator debrief sessions and parent survey data revealed the following information, summarized in the subsections below.

Children — Experiences Thirty-six children attended the program regularly, and only two children from the same family withdrew the third week based on some anxiety during a peak period of COVID cases in the county.

Eighteen children responded to the student survey, which incorporated language understandable to the students, such as ‘keeping their bubble’ (a Safe School term) versus using only the term ‘physical distancing’. Twenty-eight percent of the children responded that they felt uncomfortable wearing the masks, yet about 39% overall responded that they became accustomed to wearing the masks over time. About 28% of the children responded that they were comfortable with wearing the masks and about 5% said they felt neutral about wearing the masks. These responses were consistent with the educators’ observations and reports that the children adapted well to use of the masks and needed infrequent reminders to keep the mask on after the first week of the program.

It is important to note that during the initial days of the program, several children, particularly children ages 5-7, frequently lost their masks during snack time or playtime or because of poorly fitting masks for smaller sized children. When asked what would help to make them feel better about the mask, several students commented, “Getting a new mask that was more comfortable…seeing everyone wear it.” And, “It helped a little that my friends also wore a mask.”Another student said, “Adjusting the mask to be more comfortable.”

The students’ responses suggest that although the masks can be uncomfortable, the children can adapt well to their use by paying attention to small adjustments in fitting and using peer influence to normalize the use. As one parent stated, “My child was apprehensive about wearing the mask. My

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child is now very comfortable with the mask due to the program.” Other parents, on the other hand, recognized that, “clearly wearing a mask is important in stopping the spread and we all need to do our part, so like it or not, that is what needs to be done.”

Physical distancing, however, was more of a challenge for the children. Only 11% responded that they “felt bad” about keeping physical distancing on the yard, 39% of the children responded that they felt good about keeping physical distancing on the yard and 50% said they felt neutral about the physical distancing (Survey question: “How did you feel about keeping your distance or bubble on the yard?”). Yet, their written comments indicated that they had mixed feelings about the need to keep distance and understood that it was required to keep others safe. For example, one student stated, “I felt good and bad about the bubble. I know it protects people but it feels unnatural.” Another student stated, “I didn’t like the distancing but I understand we have to keep other people safe.”

Overall, the children expressed positive interactions with peers and engaged in social activities with instructional games and activities across tables set up in the classrooms. As one student commented, “[I felt] better about it [and] was just playing with my friends and I would forget about it.” Using child-friendly language and images for signage supported the children’s adaptiveness in use of masks and physical distancing.

Adults — Experiences A few participants became ill during the course of the program and were tested for COVID-19. Their illness brought to light the need to establish communication in advance that abides by all privacy laws under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health and Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). Parents, children and other educators will naturally have questions and concerns during a teacher’s or student’s absence. We learned that preparing communications in advance, sharing established protocols for if there is a positive case and letting the community know what can and cannot be shared helps to establish calm and order in knowing what to expect. Isolation rooms had been identified although not activated because all the ill participants developed cold-like symptoms off the campus and were advised to quarantine and seek medical attention.

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Further, although the principal had intentionally employed two educators per classroom to address potential illness/absence on the teaching team, the administrator did not accurately predict that two educators in one room would likely become ill at the same time. As a result, last-minute staff reassignments with additional educators was needed to cover for the absent educators during the duration of the illness and due to wait time for the test results, about four days. In addition, we learned that those community members who become ill and are asked to self-quarantine, and who rely on public transportation, may need special assistance in getting to a COVID testing site.

Child/Adult Interactions The three debrief sessions revealed that the adults could not easily keep physical distance from students during attempts to assist them. For example, particularly with the 5-year-old students, the adults needed to provide some minor assistance with use of restrooms. Generally, across age groups, educators expressed that they were challenged to keep physical distance with students when helping them with their assignments and activities in the classrooms and outdoors.

When asked how well students followed physical distancing in the classroom, the educators responded that about one-third of the time in class, they had to provide multiple reminders and prompts for students to maintain six feet apart. Not surprisingly, when asked the same question about how well students maintained physical distance outside, the adults noted that they had to provide multiple prompts to remind students to maintain physical distance about 60% of the time. Furthermore, the adults’ feedback indicated that when they did observe students not maintaining physical distancing, about 90% of the time they perceived it to be unintentional.

Although the adults perceived that the children seemed neutral in their reactions to the adults’ mask wearing,, the adults did indicate that they spent a considerable amount of time prompting students to wear their masks correctly, that is, keeping the mask over the nose and over the chin.

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At the first debrief with the educators, there was discussion about using child-friendly language to support the mitigation strategies, and educators noted improvement with challenges related to face coverings and physical distancing by the end of the second week.

Neurodiversity and Special Needs Prior to the start of the program, one parent made a request for an exemption to the requirement to wear a mask. The principal consulted with university leadership, university emergency operations and legal teams. An agreement was made to make a plan for the child’s required mask use with more frequent breaks as needed. The student adapted well to use of the mask, with little to no accommodations needed. The parent reported to the administrator that there was positive progress with use of the mask. Although the student in question progressed well with mask use, the administrative team learned that more requests for accommodations are to be expected with a larger population of students.

The school’s task force team also made specific recommendations to provide different kinds of options for masks and face shields to accommodate students as needed. Administrators observed a few children wore a combination of face shield with mask and others asked if the face shields could be worn instead of the masks. University requirements at the time indicated that all children should wear a mask, but the requests for options suggests that, particularly for neurodiverse students, providing alternatives for face coverings may help in providing alternative support. Our school nurse and physicians on the task force also advised that students with respiratory challenges should have a plan in place according to their physician’s orders. Neurodiverse student needs were managed proactively with specific plans facilitated by the administrator and educator.

Logistical Versus Learning Challenges During the three weeks, daily temperature checks were conducted during the morning carpool drop-off time. The nurse and two to three other trained staff members conducted the checks with a no-touch thermometer. We learned that the on-site daily temperature

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checks take time and personnel (about 10 minutes for 30 cars with three staff members conducting the checks) and may require a second or third reading with a different instrument and different staff member to confirm a false positive on the first check.

Some students and staff found they needed to change their masks throughout the day due to the mask becoming wet from saliva or because of the ear straps needing adjustments. Some students and staff brought an extra set of masks to accommodate their unique needs.

We also found that although assigning specific bathrooms for designated groups of students and groups of adults was helpful, we had long lines for restroom use due to the restricted number of bodies allowed in a limited number of bathrooms. This cut into the students’ break time. Handwashing was scheduled frequently, before entering the classrooms and during and after breaktimes. An unexpected challenge involved the reluctance of some children to wash hands after a prior application of hand sanitizer. We learned that children need training to support understanding that the use of hand sanitizer does not replace handwashing.

Funding and preparing for unplanned absences with additional staff also helped in managing unexpected participants’ absences due to illness and length of time to receive COVID test results.

Communication and debriefs with parents, educators and staff supported learning and logistics for all participants.

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RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Schedule and allow for more frequent breaks throughout the day and apart from structured lunch and snack times to provide adults and children relief from masks and time for restroom use as needed.

2. Allow time and alternate staff to conduct a second temperature check after an initial positive check.

3. Provide options for face coverings/face shields and have extra disposable masks available. Not all needs and comfort levels are the same.

4. Provide ongoing training for proper use of face coverings and daily symptom monitoring.

5. Invest in portable plexiglass shields that can provide for protection in classrooms when educators need to assist students with assignments and cannot easily maintain physical distancing to support students.

6. Ritualize safety routines with child-friendly imagery, songs and visual aids.

7. Administrators should prepare communications in advance to respond to questions about educators’ absences and be mindful of the need to alleviate concerns and compliance with HIPPA and FERPA laws.

8. Plan for additional substitute teachers to be available on-site and on-demand for unexpected absences.

9. Develop a COVID-19 related contract addendum to highlight the need for individual and collective efforts toward containment of the virus, to explain action steps related to an absence of an educator or an identified positive COVID case and to urge self-monitoring of symptoms for all household members.

10. Have rapid testing available for students or staff who display symptoms in school, and prepare to support school community members who rely on public transportation.

11. Provide ongoing social-emotional supports by a designated staff member to readily render services to students and staff.

12. Administrators should work in close collaboration with district/university/governing boards to consult on matters related to safety, risk management and appropriate services to support all students.

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For inquiries about this brief or our programs, contact us at: info@labschool.ucla.edu 330 Charles E. Young Drive North • Box 951619 • Los Angeles • 90095-1619 http://labschool.ucla.edu