Covid school closings: How in the world did we not see this coming?

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In this week’s episode of “The Consequences of our Actions,” we highlight the recent closure of Hornung Elementary, a Pre-K-5 school in Brighton. Parents received a letter yesterday — Tuesday, Nov. 9 — from Superintendent Dr. Matthew Outlaw, telling them that there had been an “unexplained rise of Covid-19 cases” and that instruction would move to virtual effective today — Wednesday, Nov. 10.

WOAH! That gave parents of hundreds of children ages 4-10 less than 24 hours’ notice to navigate the choppy waters of finding care for their kids while maintaining their own work schedules for the next three weeks.

Consider that 24% of Livingston County households are described as ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are families that have jobs, struggle to make ends meet, and are the ones most likely to be negatively affected by school closures, quarantines, and covid infection. These ALICE folks are your childcare workers; they are your healthcare support staff; they work retail and other lower-wage, limited-benefit jobs; and, even in the best of times, these are families teetering on the edge of poverty.

These are the families that benefit from in-school learning, both as a source of quality care, as well as at least two meals a day. These families have limited technology access, and limited access to the internet. These are families that desperately need the wraparound funding that our Livingston County Board of Commissioners refused, and whose needs will instead be filled from county funds that were earmarked for infrastructure improvements.

These parents have been given zero notice to figure out how they will spend the next 20 days with their young children at home learning virtually. I cannot imagine how burdensome that is to some families.

Why do we not see the domino effect of our short-sighted decisions?

This situation could have been avoided if simple mitigation efforts had been put in place: masks, hand-washing, cleaning protocols, isolation, and most recently, vaccinations.

But noooo. Y’all wanted to leave the choice up to the parents, abdicating all responsibility to those with neither the background nor the common sense to take the steps necessary to protect their kids and others from this disaster.

This is precisely what happens when you lose your courage and choose politics over public safety.

A virus runs rampant until a school is forced to close, leaving parents scrambling to figure out who is going to stay home with kids for the next three weeks and make sure little Johnny is logged onto the internet at all times because attendance is mandatory. Not to mention who is going to cover the shifts of the parents staying home?

Where will some of these families get their tech needs met if they didn’t fill out the form by noon yesterday? Well, at least it looks like you can call and make special arrangements for tech and internet needs, but why is this even necessary?

How is it that Brighton Superintendent Outlaw can follow the recommendation of the Livingston County Health Department about pausing in-person instruction, but won’t listen to them about the types of mitigation that would’ve prevented the closure in the first place?

How much is it going to cost the county to support these families in need? Or, will the county even provide wraparound services like the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services funding would have, the very same funds that OUR LIVINGSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REJECTED?

How many parents will experience increased stress — both financially and emotionally — due to this closure?

How many parents will lose their jobs?

Even worse, how many children will be at home alone because their parent had to make a tough decision between putting food on the table and paying for unexpected child care?

And the dominoes continue to fall…..

All of this is to inform you that your favorite barista won’t be serving you that precious pumpkin spice latte you love so much because the coffee shop had to close due to staffing issues. Maybe losing your lattes will make a difference. Choose wisely now, for it may be more than a latte you lose later.

Caveat lector, amicis.

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