In a new report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says teachers should be in surgical masks and elementary students should return to the classroom.
The report, which was released Wednesday, says it weighed the health risks of opening schools against the academic impacts of not having in-person instruction and found that districts need to make it a priority to get back to class. The study says it's most important for grades K-5 when students are developing critical skills and could get left behind.
Seattle Children's hospital pediatrician Dr. Dimitri Christakis worked on the committee and said it's important that special needs students and younger kids get back to classrooms.
“We know for those children the distance learning is really not equivalent in any way shape or form to what they get in person,” he said. “Education is vital for all ages but for those young people without in-person instruction, they're not getting much of an education at all.”
The report also says opening schools will benefit families beyond providing education, including supplying child care, food and other support. Without in-person instruction, schools risk children falling behind.
The panel recommended federal and state governments provide resources to help cover the cost of COVID-19 precautions, including masks, cleaning, facility upgrades and reconfigured classes. They say it's impossible to completely eliminate the risk of spreading COVID-19, but they can work with public health to minimize the risk and help teachers and families when there is an outbreak.