Funny how the School Board know better than doctors and the Health Department.
Calls to return to in-person instruction dominate public comment period of Thursday school board meeting
The Pullman School Board fielded comments from more than 30 parents, teachers and community members in its regular meeting Thursday, the majority of whom called for the district to resume in-person instruction sooner than the currently scheduled Jan. 4 start date.
Those who commented during Thursday evening’s board meeting, including two practicing physicians, repeatedly said they favored starting the reopening process on Nov. 30.
The school board on Nov. 4 approved a plan to shift from an online format to a hybrid form of instruction, starting with kindergarten through first grade, on Jan. 4, with higher grade levels added every couple of weeks.
During the public comment period of Thursday’s meeting, Dr. Deborah Collins, a parent and family physician with a private practice in Moscow, joined the growing chorus in support of reopening at the end of the month.
She said the board’s decision to wait until the spring semester to begin transitioning to in-person learning is not consistent with the best available evidence, federal guidelines or the recommendation of local health officials. She said the current, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across the country is a concern but there is no evidence to suggest that outbreaks are “caused or worsened by children under 10 attending school.”
“There is no significant evidence to support the incorrect assumption that young children attending school in person will result in more vulnerable adults becoming ill, and the benefits of in person school for most students outweigh the risk,” Collins said. “A month is a long time in the life of a child who is unable to learn, and is losing hope by the day.”
Dr. Stephanie Fosback, a general internal medicine physician with Palouse Medical, agreed with Collins, saying “there is absolutely no evidence that children going to school are going to make my job harder.” Fosback said she and her coworkers commonly have contact with COVID-19 patients and, thanks to adherence to proper safety protocols, no one in her office has been infected by a patient.