(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Dear Somerville School Committee and Somerville Teachers Association,

We are Somerville parents of PK-high school students. We work in education, science, public health, and medicine. Using published scientific evidence as our guide, we ask that Somerville prioritize an option for the return of our most vulnerable students to the physical classroom setting. We support the option of remote learning for any family that chooses it, and we stress that our most vulnerable students – including elementary aged children, children with special needs, and English learners – deserve the chance to go back to school in-person. This matters not only for our children, but for all children in Somerville. Although we may not represent all vulnerable children within the city, we value and are focusing here on equity for all students.

It is not possible to wait for a vaccine or zero risk. COVID-19 will be a global reality for years to come. Even when a first-generation vaccine is available, it will not be 100% effective, nor will it entirely stop the spread. Waiting until there is zero risk of COVID-19 in our state to resume any in-person education is not a realistic or evidence-based goal.

There are substantial, irreversible risks to fully remote learning. Children will miss out on essential academic and social-emotional learning, peer and adult relationships, opportunities for play, and other necessities for healthy development. Risks to children include:

• Learning Students fell behind academically in the spring and will continue to fall behind this year. PK-3 children particularly struggle with remote learning, as they are still developing the skills needed to regulate behavior and emotions and to maintain attention. If in-person school begins in January 2021, students will have already lost between 3 and 14 months of learning.
• Widening Systemic racism and baseline inequities will result in learning loss that is greatest for students who are Black, Latinx, or experiencing poverty. Formation of exclusive “pods” for families with the most resources will further exacerbate gaps.
• Loss of essential support for children with special A remote experience that meets IDEA requirements is not feasible for many support services (e.g. physical or occupational therapy).
• Mental health risks. Real-time engagement and interaction with friends and supportive adults cannot be replicated remotely. Losing access to these important relationships has a significant impact on children’s social and emotional wellbeing, with this isolation increasing levels of toxic stress.
• Unreported child Increased isolation and stress on families throughout this pandemic puts children at a greater risk of maltreatment. Without teachers as safe harbors and mandatory reporters, increasing child abuse goes unreported and children continue to suffer.

We recognize that there are risks to reopening schools. Diligent adherence to health protocols is required to prevent transmission of COVID-19 between students, teachers, staff, and the community. We support Somerville’s decision to exceed DESE guidelines with a 6’ distancing requirement and mandatory masks for all students K-12. We also empathize with teachers and acknowledge the fear of returning to work after quarantine. Among us are clinicians who worked through the height of the Massachusetts surge, at a time when the best protective measures were in question. Experience and scientific study have demonstrated what we did not know then: masks, 6’ spacing, frequent handwashing, and outdoor practice dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. Many of us continue in-person work, and we are confident in the effectiveness of our PPE (personal protective equipment).

Although we acknowledge that the risk of child infection is not zero, a plurality of research indicates that compared to adults, children are less likely to both contract or transmit COVID-19, with children under 10 years old the least likely to transmit. Countries that have reopened elementary schools as a first step of reopening did not see an uptick of cases of COVID-19. In France, there has been no evidence of virus transmission from young children to adults in the school setting. In a large study in South Africa – during return to schools with no masks, no personal distancing, and during exponential growth of the outbreak – 70% of schools did not have cases, learner cases in grades under 12 did not predict educator cases, and educator cases were not significantly higher than cases in the general population. Learner cases did predict educator cases in schools with grade 12. In the United States, the YMCA operated day programs throughout the initial surge of the pandemic that employed appropriate infection control measures, with no outbreaks and no cases in 40,000 children that attended. We trust in these data, as many of us have put our own children into both in-person indoor and outdoor Somerville-based camps and preschools over the past month.

While “zero-risk” reopening does not exist, Somerville has steadily maintained low community rates of infection. Our community meets WHO criteria for a safe opening based on public health expertise. These low rates provide an important opportunity for teachers to build in-person relationships with their new rising students in each grade at the beginning of the school year. We view elementary schools as essential and believe we can and should prioritize them.

Proposed strategies:

In addition to universal masking and 6’ distancing, in order to further minimize infection rates, we can:

• Limit cohort size and interaction with other cohorts. Evidence supports limited cohort size. Models indicate that when students are split into two cohorts with around 10 students per cohort, nearly all infections in a school will come from community transmission — in other words, infections that would happen if students were learning full-time at home.
• Utilize outdoor space during the school day. Have school outside as long as possible, as often as possible. Maximize school time during temperate seasons, erect tents on outdoor school or city property, and make full use of outdoor classroom spaces (such as at WHCIS, Capuano, and Argenziano). Consider contracting with external local after-school clubs such as Parkour, Drumlin Farm, Brooklyn Boulders, Somerville Recreation, etc. to enhance innovative, atypical outdoor learning.
• Minimize adult interactions. Transmission rates are highest among adults. Interactions between teachers and parents can be minimized by staggering drop-off and pickup times and keeping parents outside the Interactions between teachers and staff can be limited with dedicated substitute teachers assigned to specific cohorts, virtual specialist classes, and virtual staff meetings. Another important strategy is to offer young children as much in-school time as possible, which will minimize the number of adult caregivers that families interact with outside of school.
• Protect teachers and staff with appropriate PPE and introduce thorough hygiene protocols. Like all essential workers, teachers and other school personnel deserve appropriate PPE and thorough education and training on how to use it. There is growing evidence that masks not only  protect others from infection, but also protect the wearer. Remote work accommodations may be made for vulnerable teachers and staff.

• Implement a district-based testing initiative. We know that children are relatively spared from serious illness related to COVID-19, but we must protect our teachers and staff by taking precautions to limit outbreaks. First and foremost, we need equitable access to rapid testing for individuals experiencing symptoms (and their contacts). We should also consider regular, voluntary surveillance testing of We have the opportunity to leverage our neighbors who are leaders in this field, such as The Broad Institute, as well as our many strong healthcare organizations that are needed to organize testing and reporting of results.

With your support, Somerville can lead the path to a data-driven, science-based approach to opening schools with profound community benefits and less risk to our students, teachers and staff.

Thank you for your consideration,

SPS Parents supporting an evidence-based phased reopening

R Julius Anastasio, MS, Argenziano parent (Ward 2)
Sunita Arora, M.Ed., Brown parent (Ward 6)
Amy Bantham, DrPH, MS, MPP Brown parent (Ward 6)
Aine Blanchard, LICSW, Kennedy parent (Ward 5)
Julie Bruch, MPA; WHCIS parent (Ward 5)
Elise Audrey Carpenter, MD, PhD; ESCS & Unidos parent (Ward 4)
Erica Dwyer MD, PhD; Brown parent (Ward 5)
Liz Gaskell, PhD; WSNS parent (Ward 7)
Anna Goldman, MD, MPA, MPH; Kennedy parent (Ward 5)
Allison Goodman; ESCS and Capuano parent (Ward 1)
Lara Hall, MD; Argenziano parent (Ward 1)
Lauren Hittner, MD; Argenziano parent (Ward 2)
Rebecca Inzana, MS, CCC-SLP, Brown parent (Ward 5)
Gabrielle A. Jacquet, MD, MPH; Brown parent (Ward 6)
Daniele Lantagne, M.Eng, PhD; Argenziano parent (Ward 5)
Caitrin MacDonald, NP; ESCS & SHS parent (Ward 3)
Amar Majmundar MD, PhD; Brown parent (Ward 5)
Rana McLaughlin, MS; Brown parent (Ward 5)
Elizabeth Pinsky, MD; Kennedy parent (Ward 6)
Dana Sackton, MD; Brown parent (Ward 6)
Katharine Sackton, PhD; Brown parent (Ward 6)
Lisa Schweigler, MD, MPH, MS; Healey parent (Ward 5)
Amy Yule, MD; Kennedy parent (Ward 4)