Assuring that approximately 172 schools with “reopening potential” were identified in the first phase of the return to face-to-face courses, the designated secretary of the Department of Education, Elba Aponte Santos, stressed that the agency will guarantee the effectiveness of health protocols in a time when the country has not yet experienced a substantial reduction in Covid-19 positivity rates.
Aponte Santos echoed previous remarks by Interior Secretary Noelia García that the reopening date of the schools is not “written in stone”, but acknowledged that Wednesday, March 3, would be an alternative.
“It could be March 3, for example. We need to move on to that line we drew in early March. If we have had to delay it due to an inconvenience, we will notify you. We are here today and I hope nothing happens, but if something happens we will have to make adjustments, “Aponte Santos told a news conference after attending the weekly executive cabinet meeting.
In order to compile the list of schools that could reopen in March, Aponte Santos indicated that checklists have been established with the characteristics they must meet.
We have two “checklists”, one for infrastructure and conditioning, which will be marked if the bathrooms are adequate, if they have cleaning materials, if it has the Covid protocol, if there is no risk of infrastructure in the rooms […] Regarding the Covid protocol, following the guidelines of the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), if they have thermometers, nurses, cleaning products, caregivers, masks, if they have gloves. Let them master the pursuit program, “he said.
The follow-up program within the school system will be led by epidemiologists Encijar Hassan, Fabiola Cruz and demographer Wilmarí de Jesús.
Although the Department of Education is not currently considering revealing the list of schools it intends to reopen, Aponte Santos has expressed a desire for schools that eventually open their classrooms to be a “representative sample.” of the geographical reality of Puerto Rico.
The Department of Education aspires to reopen “at least one per municipality, but it can vary. In Culebra we have a school, they are already vaccinated and, if the school is ready, it will start. Maybe in Las Marías the risk or the Covid number are lower (so) we will move there. There are several aspects that we will consider for this determination, based on the recommendation that (the Department of) Health then gives us “, said the official.
The agency has 856 schools, of which, until a few weeks ago, 53 were classified as inappropriate and 253 partially adequate due to infrastructure conditions.
Aponte Santos stressed that parents or guardians will not be obliged to send their children to school, but indicated that, in the case of teachers, they have the responsibility, by collective agreement, to go to school after being called by the agency.
On February 5, the appointed secretary informed, a meeting will be held to which all the unions of the employees of the Department of Education are invited.
We recommend:
“In the conversation we will have with the unions, we will discuss the date when some employees will be summoned, that this is a working condition,” he insisted.
At the press conference, the appointed health secretary, Carlos Mellado, specified that “in two weeks” the plans and protocols that will be followed by the schools that reopen in March will be made public.
“There are several schools that are prepared, both public and private. In the ones we are, we evaluate the protocols “, said Mellado.
Faced with criticism from organizations such as the Teachers’ Association, which called on the government to focus on reopening the semester beginning in August, Mellado alluded to the views of experts such as federal epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, the College of Surgeons of Puerto Rico and the American Pediatric Association. , who warned of the harm suffered by children who do not have the opportunity to receive a face-to-face education for an extended period.
In this regard, the Secretary-General insisted that schools play a key role for children in nutritional and psychological issues.
By excluding school staff from the administrative order that provided that for four weeks, the Covid-19 vaccine would be given only to people over the age of 65, Mellado and Aponte Santos assured that this phase could be completed by March 18. To date, of the 55,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in public and private schools, 16,100 have received at least the first dose of vaccine.
Of the 48,000 weekly doses that will be received starting next week, Mellado indicated that there will be approximately 12,000 reserved for this population.