From: Cheryl Smith <csmith@nredlearn.org>
Date: Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 11:27 AM
Subject: School spread is real
To: Alex Marrero <amarrero@nredlearn.org>
Cc: Board of Education <boe@nredlearn.org>, Mary Breslin <mbreslin@nredlearn.org>, Peter Scordo <pscordo@nredlearn.org>, Billy Coleman <bcoleman@nredlearn.org>, Liliana Psychopedas <lpsychopedas@nredlearn.org>, Brooke Balchan <bbalchan@nredlearn.org>
Good morning Dr. Marrero,
As I have shared with you, the presumption that schools do not spread is false. The CDC removed that false assertion several weeks ago. As schools have reopened evidence has mounted and it is clear that children spread equally to adults.
A study of more than a half-million people who were exposed to Coronavirus suggests that the virus’ continued spread is driven by only a small percentage of those who become infected.
Moreover, children and young adults were found to be potentially much more important to transmitting the virus than previous studies had identified, according to the study by researchers at Princeton, John Hopkins and the University of California at Berkeley.
This was the largest contact tracing study for any disease ever conducted. It suggests the role of schools in the spread of the virus is also much greater than previously believed.
The evidence is so convincing that the CDC took down controversial guidance pushing for schools to remain open during periods of increased infections.
Therefore the assertion made by some board members that the evidence suggests school spread is not a major issue is patently false.
Schools remaining open for some would be fine if all things were equal. Yes, academic regression is bad but COVID spread is worse. The choice of falling behind or death should be an easy one. In my opinion, a Board of Education that views its staff health and safety as expendable in order for students to remain learning in person has lost any moral authority.
I hope these articles can at least shed the facts on school spread so when false or misleading assertions are made they can be countered with the actual facts.
Below are some of the articles, periodicals and studies that indicate school spread.
Respectfully,
Cheryl https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/24/close-schools-coronavirus-winter/
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/526370-cdc-quietly-removes-guidance-pushing-for-school-reopenings
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30785-4/fulltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30785-4
https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/2020/11/21/inconvenient-truth-remote-teaching-is-better-than-in-person-instruction-during-a-pandemic/
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6517/691
From Germany: 3 biggest outbreaks spread from schools: https://www.news4teachers.de/2020/11/groesster-ausbruch-an-schule-in-deutschland-ausgerechnet-in-hamburg-wo-der-bildungssenator-am-vortag-die-schulen-fuer-sicher-erklaert-hat/
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/in-person-learning-now-considered-high-risk-by-cdc/
School spread in North Carolina: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article247165609.html Sampling of deaths due to school transmission since reopening schools:https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2020/10/30/arkansas-educators-hit-hard-by-covid-19-new-figures-showhttps://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2020-10-14/west-des-moines-educator-who-died-of-covid-19-was-exposed-at-school-family-says
https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-09-11/demetria-bannisters-coronavirus-death-highlights-vulnerability-of-teachers