We can’t even get our hair cut. No way should SLO County kids be going back to school

Here we go again.

We can’t go to the barbershop or the hair salon.

We can’t dine inside restaurants.

We can’t go the gym, and when we go the beach, we’re required to spread our blankets at least 6 feet apart.

Under the circumstances, we shouldn’t even consider putting kids back in classrooms — not when cases are skyrocketing throughout California, including in San Luis Obispo County.

There’s still too much we don’t know about this virus.

Consider: Initially, we were told the virus spread primarily through large droplets expelled when people sneezed or coughed or sang — droplets that quickly fell to the ground.

Now scientists believe the virus may linger in indoor air for hours, in the form of microscopic droplets, or aerosols, especially in poorly ventilated rooms. While the World Health Organization does not believe that plays much of a role in the spread of the disease, it is calling for more study.

Shouldn’t we know more about the dangers of indoor air before we send students and teachers back inside classrooms for hours at a stretch?

And while it’s still the case that children fare much better in the pandemic — in the majority of cases, they are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms — a small number of children have become seriously ill with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), which is linked to COVID.

Then there are teachers and other staff members to think about, do we really want to put them at risk?

Plus, the children’s families — what if they come home and spread coronavirus to vulnerable adults?

Even with precautions, such as reducing the number of children in a classroom, taking temperatures, requiring masks and not allowing any sharing of school supplies or playground equipment, there are too many opportunities for error.

All it takes is for one or two infected children — and remember, since children often have no symptoms there would be no way to tell whether a child is infected or not — to get a little sloppy about keeping their masks on or practicing social distancing, and you have more children children infected.

Check out this description a Santa Barbara County teacher shared in a letter to the editor:

“I guarantee the mask will at one point end up on the floor of the classroom, playground, cafeteria, or even bathroom and go right back on their little faces. I can see them touching them (masks) nonstop, complaining because they itch, hurt, fall down, are hot, too big, etc. If some of us, as adults, cannot even fathom wearing a mask out to the grocery store for a few hours, how are we expecting children (starting at the age of 5) to wear them for 6 hours with no breaks?”

It’s a huge burden for teachers to not only have to carry on with instruction, but to also maintain constant order and discipline to make sure students aren’t inadvertently spreading a potentially fatal disease.

Is it any wonder they’re reluctant to return to the classroom?

Here’s a comment one teacher made to South County’s Lucia Mar school board on Tuesday night: “I’ve been texted by parents and students and a bunch of teachers and staff saying we do not want to come back. It is not safe.”

The school board agreed to put its plans to reopen this August on pause. It’s the first large district in the county to do so; others are scheduled to make a decision in the coming days.

We strongly urge them to follow Lucia Mar’s lead and delay in-person classes until San Luis Obispo County cases are back under control and we’re off the state watch list.

At the same time, we can’t close our eyes to the burden this places on parents of school-age children who aren’t able to work from home.

We’re talking about people we depend on more than ever — health care workers, public safety officers, farmworkers, store clerks, delivery drivers, utility workers and many more.

There is some childcare available for essential workers, but it’s expensive. According to the county’s Emergency Childcare webpage, day camp childcare is $25 a day, and other programs can be more costly. Some financial aid is available, but the county Emergency Services website warns that it’s extremely limited.

We’ve got to do better.

We strongly urge officials at every level — federal, state and local — to make it a priority to provide a better childcare safety net for essential workers until school can reopen safely.

This has been updated with information from the county’s Emergency Childcare webpage, as well as with comments from Santa Barbara County teacher.