The question of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and until a vaccine or effective treatment exists is one of the most potentially significant questions of our time. The top priority in school reopening plans is the health and safety of students and staff. In order to ensure this occurs, schools should work in collaboration with their local public health officials, elected officials, and larger, local communities in making the collective decision to safely reopen. The key objective needs to be, “How can our community transmission[1] be kept low enough so that our schools can be successfully reopened?” On their own, reopening schools is unlikely to increase overall community transmission significantly; however, other concurrent, ill-advised community pandemic responses could undermine school reopening and make things worse. Increasingly, it is looking as if schools should currently be planning or beginning their planning processes in earnest with the expectation that, at least for the fall term, schools may be functioning remotely before possibly transitioning to a combined in-person/remote model in spring 2021.

Satisficing the Likelihood of Success

The definitive solution to reopening schools in the safest and most efficient manner possible is unknown, a moving target, and specific to each locale. It is important to satisfice based on the most current and best available public health and public education directives and advice. This process involves identifying the objectives, tasks, resources, and time and cost constraints of school reopening. For example, the school reopening process can be divided into six (6) main tasks:

1. Identifying school (and larger community) needs (at all levels—educational, healthcare, economic, and cultural) with involvement of a diverse representation of all stakeholders (i.e., establishing overall reopening  goals via an open process that seeks input and consensus);
2. Determining areas of focus and prioritizing efforts (i.e., ranked goals) based on identified needs (e.g., keeping people healthy while maintaining quality instruction and a commitment to equity);
3. Identifying services and assets currently available and possible alternatives;
4. Identifying service and infrastructure capacity gaps and developing plans for their fulfillment based on local context and needs;
5. Monitoring implementation at all relevant levels; and
6. Modifying and adapting plans and services as needed, including reclosing or teaching only remotely (i.e., remain flexible).

[1] Community transmission is when there is no clear source of origin of the infection in a community. It happens when you cannot identify who became infected after being exposed to someone who interacted with people from another infected community. Masks, social distancing, hand washing, good hygiene, and contact tracing are the basic tools to combat community transmission.