Underfunded & Unprepared: Examining How to Overcome Obstacles to Safely Reopen Public Schools, House hearing transcript (July 23, 2020), GovInfo CHRG-116hhrg41116, PDF
Summary
This is the Government Publishing Office PDF of “Underfunded & Unprepared,” a hearing of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor on July 23, 2020 (Serial No. 116–61), with Chairman Sablan presiding. Witnesses included Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, and officials of the National Parent Teacher Association, the Tennessee Department of Education and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sablan cited the Superintendents Association’s estimate that the average district will need $1.8 million of work before schools can safely reopen. Sablan said the CARES Act provided over $13 billion directly to schools.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
UNDERFUNDED & UNPREPARED: EXAMINING
HOW TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES TO SAFELY
REOPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY,
AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
AND LABOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 23, 2020
Serial No. 116–61
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor
(
Available via the: https://edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
41–116 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman
Susan A. Davis, California Virginia Foxx, North Carolina,
Raúl M. Grijalva, Arizona Ranking Member
Joe Courtney, Connecticut David P. Roe, Tennessee
Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Tim Walberg, Michigan
Northern Mariana Islands Brett Guthrie, Kentucky
Frederica S. Wilson, Florida Bradley Byrne, Alabama
Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Mark Takano, California Elise M. Stefanik, New York
Alma S. Adams, North Carolina Rick W. Allen, Georgia
Mark DeSaulnier, California Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania
Donald Norcross, New Jersey Jim Banks, Indiana
Pramila Jayapal, Washington Mark Walker, North Carolina
Joseph D. Morelle, New York James Comer, Kentucky
Susan Wild, Pennsylvania Ben Cline, Virginia
Josh Harder, California Russ Fulcher, Idaho
Lucy McBath, Georgia Ron Wright, Texas
Kim Schrier, Washington Daniel Meuser, Pennsylvania
Lauren Underwood, Illinois Dusty Johnson, South Dakota
Jahana Hayes, Connecticut Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
Donna E. Shalala, Florida Gregory F. Murphy, North Carolina
Andy Levin, Michigan* Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
David J. Trone, Maryland
Haley M. Stevens, Michigan
Susie Lee, Nevada
Lori Trahan, Massachusetts
Joaquin Castro, Texas
* Vice-Chair
Véronique Pluviose, Staff Director
Brandon Renz, Minority Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, Northern Mariana Islands, Chairman
Kim Schrier, Washington Rick W. Allen, Georgia,
Jahana Hayes, Connecticut Ranking Member
Donna E. Shalala, Florida Glenn ‘‘GT’’ Thompson, Pennsylvania
Susan A. Davis, California Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Frederica S. Wilson, Florida Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Joseph D. Morelle, New York
(II)
C O N T E N T S
Page
Hearing held on July 23, 2020 ............................................................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Allen, Hon. Rick W., Ranking Member, Subcommittee Early Childhood,
Elementary, and Secondary Education ....................................................... 6
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 7
Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, Chairman, Subcommittee Early
Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education .................................... 1
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 4
Statement of Witnesses:
Boggs, Ms. Leslie, President, National Parent Teacher Association ............ 17
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 20
Hinojosa, Mr. Michael, Ed.D., Superintendent, Dallas Independent School
District ........................................................................................................... 10
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 12
O’Leary, Dr. Sean, MD, MPH, FAAP, Vice Chair, Committee on Infec-
tious Diseases, American Academy of Pediatrics .......................................
34
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 37
Schwinn, Ms. Penny, Commissioner of Education, Tennessee Department
of Education ................................................................................................... 23
Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 26
Additional Submissions:
Courtney, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Connecticut:
Article: DeVos’s Claim That Children Are Stoppers of COVID–19 ....... 85
Foxx, Hon. Virginia, a Representative in Congress from the State of
North Carolina: .............................................................................................
Article: Considerations for Schools Operating Schools .......................... 231
Article: Preparing K-12 School Administrators for a Safe Return to
School in Fall 2020 ................................................................................ 237
COVID–19 Planning Considerations Guidance for School Re-entry ..... 247
Chairman Sablan: .............................................................................................
Remote Learning Synopsis ....................................................................... 103
A Plan To Safely Reopen America’s Schools and Communities ............ 104
All Hands On Deck: Guidance Regarding Reopening School Build-
ings .......................................................................................................... 126
AASA COVID–19 Recovery Task Force Guidelines for Reopening
Schools: An Opportunity to Transform Public Education .................. 164
COVID–19 Planning Considerations Guidance for School Re-entry ..... 214
Underwood, Hon. Lauren, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Illinois: .......................................................................................................
Statement from the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) .... 91
Questions submitted for the record by:
Walberg, Hon. Tim, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Michigan ............................................................................................. 265
Ms. Schwinn responses to questions submitted for the record ..................... 266
(III)
UNDERFUNDED & UNPREPARED: EXAMINING
HOW TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES TO SAFELY
REOPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Thursday, July 23, 2020
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Early Childhood,
Elementary, and Secondary Education,
Committee on Education and Labor,
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:25 a.m., in Room
2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Gregorio Kilili
Camacho Sablan (Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Sablan, Schrier, Hayes, Shalala, Davis,
DeSaulnier, Morelle, Scott (ex officio), Allen, Thompson, Grothman,
Keller, and Foxx.
Also Present: Representatives Lee, Bonamici, Courtney, Levin,
Stevens, Wild, McBath, Underwood, Walberg, Stefanik, Johnson,
and Murphy.
Staff Present: Tylease Alli, Chief Clerk; Ilana Brunner, General
Counsel; Ramon Carranza, Education Policy Fellow; Christian
Haines, General Counsel; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information
Technology; Stephanie Lalle, Deputy Communications Director;
Andre Lindsay, Staff Assistant; Jaria Martin, Clerk/Special Assist-
ant to the Staff Director; Katelyn Mooney, Associate General Coun-
sel; Max Moore, Staff Assistant; Mariah Mowbray, Staff Assistant;
Jacque Mosely, Director of Education Policy; Veronique Pluviose,
Staff Director; Loredana Valtierra, Education Policy Counsel;
Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of Information Technology; Cyrus
Artz, Minority Staff Director; Kelsey Avino, Minority Fellow; Amy
Raaf Jones, Minority Director of Education and Human Resources
Policy; Hannah Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Carlton
Norwood, Minority Press Secretary; Mandy Schaumburg, Minority
Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of Education Policy; and
Georgie Littlefair, Minority Staff Assistant.
Chairman SABLAN. Welcome. I note that a quorum is present.
And I note for the subcommittee that Mr. Courtney of Connecticut,
Ms. Bonamici of Oregon, Mr. Norcross of New Jersey, Ms. Wild of
Pennsylvania, Mrs. McBath of Georgia, Ms. Underwood of Illinois,
Mr. Levin of Michigan, Ms. Stevens of Michigan, Mrs. Lee of Ne-
vada, Mrs. Trahan of Massachusetts, Mr. Walberg of Michigan, Ms.
Stefanik of New York, Mr. Banks of Indiana, Mr. Johnson of South
(1)
2
Dakota, and Dr. Murphy of North Carolina are permitted to par-
ticipate in today’s hearing with the understanding that their ques-
tions will come only after all members of the Early Childhood Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Subcommittee on both sides of
the aisle who are present have had an opportunity to question the
witnesses.
The committee is meeting today for the hearing. We are hearing
to get testimony on Underfunded and Unprepared: Examining How
to Overcome Obstacles to Safely Reopen Public Schools. As this is
a hybrid meeting, hybrid hearing with members participating, both
here in the hearing room and remotely, I would ask that all micro-
phones of members and witnesses participating remotely be kept
muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background noise.
Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting them-
selves from they are recognized to speak, or when they wish to seek
recognition. Further, for House Resolution 965 and its accom-
panying regulations, members participating remotely are required
to leave their cameras on the entire time they are in an official pro-
ceeding, even if they step away from the camera.
While roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum in official
proceedings, whenever there is an official proceeding with remote
participation, the clerk will call the roll to help make clear who is
present at the start of the proceeding. So at this time, I ask the
clerk to call the roll.
The CLERK. Chairman Sablan?
Chairman SABLAN. Here.
The CLERK. Ms. Schrier.
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mrs. Hayes?
Mrs. HAYES. Yes.
The CLERK. Ms. Shalala?
Ms. SHALALA. Here.
The CLERK. Mrs. Davis?
Mrs. DAVIS. Here.
The CLERK. Ms. Wilson?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mr. DeSaulnier?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mr. Morelle?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Chairman Scott?
Mr. SCOTT. Present.
The CLERK. Mr. Allen?
Mr. ALLEN. Present.
The CLERK. Mr. Thompson?
Mr. THOMPSON. Present.
The CLERK. Mr. Grothman?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mr. Keller?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mr. Van Drew?
[No response.]
The CLERK. Mrs. Foxx?
[No response.]
3
The CLERK. Chairman Sablan, that concludes the roll call.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, thank you very much. Pursuant
to Committee Rule 7(c), opening statements are limited to the
Chair and the Ranking Member. This allows us to hear from our
witnesses sooner and provides all Members with adequate time to
ask questions. I recognize myself now for the purposes of making
an opening statement.
We are here to ask what Congress must do to help American stu-
dents get back to school during this pandemic. All of us wants our
schools to reopen for full-time, in-person instruction as soon as pos-
sible. That fact is not out for debate. The question is, what must
Congress do to help our schools get students back, get students and
faculty back into the classroom safely?
We are all coming to a new understanding of just how essential
schools are to life in America, where working parents can be con-
fident that their children are cared for, where economically chal-
lenged families know their children can be fed, where communities
can find common ground cheering at sporting events, and where
America’s future is being formed by the knowledge and values we
impart to the next generation.
Schools are currently struggling to safely reopen because of this
President’s failed response to the pandemic. There is still no test-
ing and contact tracing strategy, or science-based plan that we
know other countries are using successfully to combat COVID–19.
Now, the daily number of new cases in the United States is ex-
ceeding 60,000, . . . 60,000, much higher than when the pandemic
first caused to school to close nationwide in March. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention has made clear that fully reopen-
ing schools carries the highest risk of creating new spikes in
COVID–19 infections. We had hoped to have CDC here today to
discuss what best practices could help safely reopen America’s
schools, butButthe White House refused to let its officials testify at
today’s hearing.
While initial studies suggest that students are less likely to con-
tract COVID–19 and suffer serious illness, across the country, out-
breaks at summer camps and even among infants make clear that
we do not know enough about the risk for children. And a Kaiser
Family Foundation analysis estimates that 1.5 million teachers,
nearly one in four have health conditions that put them at higher
risk of serious illness if they contract COVID–19.
This risk can be mitigated and tragedies can be prevented, but
it requires both a nationwide strategy to contain the spread of the
virus and a significant federal investment to help schools to take
necessary safety precautions.
House Democrats have not been idle waiting for a miraculous
disappearance of COVID–19. The CARES Act in March provided
over $13 billion directly to schools to help deal with the cost of clo-
sure and transition to an online learning environment.
In May, the House passed HEROES Act with another $60 billion
in emergency school funding to help schools buy personal protective
equipment, sanitize classrooms, and make special arrangements for
students and teachers in high risk categories, soschools can safely
reopen.
4
And this month, this committee’s Reopen and Review America
Schools Act was included when the House passed the Moving For-
ward Act, another investment of $130 billion that can be used to
reconfigure and modernize schools to protect the health of students
and staff.
Unfortunately, our Republican friends in the Senate have chosen,
like the President, to hide from the problem and taking it to action,
and taking no action on the House proposals to help America’s
schools safely reopen.
We are hearing this week the Senate may finally be waking up
to the enormity of the problem. I hope they shake themselves
awake because time is not on our side.
For many, the school year should begin next month, but you can’t
modernize the HVAC system in a 40-year-old school in a moment’s
notice. According to the Superintendents Association, the average
district will need $1.8 million of work before schools can safely re-
open. The House voted to give them the money to get started
months ago. The Senate slept.
Meanwhile, instead of joining Democrats to deliver more funding
to help schools reopen safely, Secretary DeVos and President
Trump are threatening, are threatening, to strip funding from pub-
lic schools that determine they cannot safely bring all students
back into the classroom full-time.
They have it backwards. As a national survey published on Mon-
day found,86 percent of the America’s school principals said it is
extremely important, that is in quotes, ‘‘extremely important’’ to
get additional funding so their schools can safely reopen. And that
is just the opposite of the administration’s threat to defund schools.
And to be clear, the President has no legal authority to withhold
school funds that Congress appropriated.
But I should also note that my Republican colleagues, who have
consistently railed against federal government’s role in education,
now believe that the Trump administration should act as a na-
tional school board that coerces the schools into opening for full-
time instruction regardless of local health conditions.
Meanwhile, the Education Department has no plan, no plan at
all for transitioning students back to in-person instruction safely.
Instead it is blaming teachers and administrators for not doing
enough. So we will be listening today to national leaders and ex-
perts who want to make sure Congress provides meaningful assist-
ance to America’s schools. I thank our witnesses in advance for
their advice.
[The statement of Chairman Sablan follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Chairman,
Subcommittee Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
We are here to ask what Congress must do to help America’s students get back
to school during this pandemic.
All of us want our schools to reopen for full time, in-person instruction as soon
as possible. That fact is not up for debate. The question is: What must Congress
do to help our schools get students and faculty back into classrooms safely?
We are all coming to a new understanding of just how essential schools are to
life in America; where working parents can be confident their children are cared for,
where economically challenged families know their children can be fed, where our
communities can find common ground cheering at sporting events, and where Amer-
5
ica’s future is being formed by the knowledge and values we impart to the next gen-
eration.
Schools are currently struggling to safely reopen because of this President’s failed
response to the pandemic. There is still no testing and contact tracing strategy or
science-based plan that we know other countries are using successfully to combat
COVID–19.
Now, the daily number of new cases in the U.S. is exceeding 60,000—much higher
than when the pandemic first caused schools to close nationwide in March.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made clear that fully reopen-
ing schools carries the highest risk of creating new spikes in COVID–19 infections.
We had hoped to have CDC here today to discuss what best practices could help
safely reopen America’s schools, but the White House refused to let its officials tes-
tify at today’s hearing.
While initial studies suggest that students are less likely to contract COVID–19
and suffer serious illness, across the country, outbreaks at summer camps and even
among infants make clear that we do not know enough about the risks for children.
And a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis estimates that 1.5 million teachers—
nearly 1 in 4—have health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious illness
if they contract COVID–19.
These risks can be mitigated, and tragedies can be prevented. But it requires both
a nationwide strategy to contain the spread of the virus and a significant federal
investment to help schools take necessary safety precautions.
House Democrats have not been idle, waiting for a miraculous disappearance of
COVID–19.
The CARES Act in March provided over $13 billion directly to schools to help deal
with the costs of closure and transition to an online learning environment.
In May, the House passed the Heroes Act with another $60 billion in emergency
school funding to help schools buy Personal Protective Equipment, sanitize class-
rooms, and make special arrangements for students and teachers in high-risk cat-
egories, so schools can safely reopen.
And, this month, this Committee’s Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act was
included when the House passed the Moving Forward Act—another investment of
$130 billion that can be used to reconfigure and modernize schools to protect the
health of students and staff.
Unfortunately, our Republican friends in the Senate have chosen—like the Presi-
dent—to hide from the problem and taken no action on the House proposals to help
America’s schools safely reopen.
We are hearing this week the Senate may finally be waking up to the enormity
of the problem.
I hope they shake themselves awake, because time is not on our side. For many,
the school year should begin next month, but you cannot modernize the HVAC sys-
tem in a 40-year-old school on a moment’s notice.
According to the Superintendents Association, the average district will need $1.8
million of work before schools can safely reopen. The House voted to give them the
money to get started months ago.
The Senate slept.
Meanwhile, instead of joining Democrats to deliver more funding to help schools
reopen safely, Secretary DeVos and President Trump are threatening to strip fund-
ing from public schools that determine they cannot safely bring all students back
into the classroom full-time.
They have it backwards. As a national survey published on Monday found, 86 per-
cent of America’s school principals said it is ‘‘extremely important’’ to get additional
funding, so their schools can safely reopen— just the opposite of the Administra-
tion’s threat to defund schools.
To be clear, the President has no legal authority to withhold school funds that
Congress appropriated.
But I should also note that my Republican colleagues— who have consistently
railed against the federal government’s role in education— now believe that the
Trump Administration should act as a national school board that coerces schools
into opening for full-time instruction, regardless of local health conditions. Mean-
while, the Education Department has no plan for transitioning students back to in-
person instruction safely. Instead, it is blaming teachers and administrators for not
doing enough.
So, we will be listening today to national leaders and experts, who want to make
sure Congress provides meaningful assistance to America’s schools. I thank our wit-
nesses in advance for their advice.
I yield to Mr. Allen for the purpose of an opening statement.
6
Chairman SABLAN. And I now yield back to Mr. Allen for the
purpose of an opening statement.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Reopening American
schools has dominated family conversations around the country the
last few weeks. The good news is science is on our side and federal
agencies like the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention in
State agencies, like the Georgia Department of Public Health, have
provided detail reports on how we can reopen schools safely. I hope
during today’s hearing we can put political finger-pointing aside
and put our children’s interests first while we discuss, not if, but
how we can safely reopen schools this fall.
I know both my Democratic and Republican colleagues agree that
students are being harmed by the physical closure of schools, and
that we need to provide the option of in-person instruction.
As we gear up for a new school year this fall, this question of
how to reopen our Nation’s schools safely needs to be a top priority
for this committee. This past spring, more than 55 million students
were affected by COVID–19-related school closures. That number
accounts for approximately 97 percent of students nationwide. The
result, well, the numbers speak for themselves.
The collaborative for student growth projected that some stu-
dents could experience as much as a 50 percent reduction in typical
learning gains as a result of school closures. Another analysis con-
ducted by McKinsey and Company, a consulting group, found that
when all the impacts of COVID–19 are taken into account, the av-
erage student could fall 7 months behind academically.
As Leader McCarthy argued, we cannot afford to let a generation
miss out on being taught. President Trump also recognizes the
vital importance of safely reopening America’s schools.
Sadly, learning loss isn’t the only challenge students face due to
school closures. This pandemic and subsequent school closures have
dramatically reduced interactions between vulnerable children and
trusted adults, while exacerbating conditions that contribute to
child abuse and neglect, such as financial strain and social isola-
tion. School closures diminish educator’s ability to serve these vul-
nerable students.
Additionally, for some children, school is the only place where
they receive nutritious meals in a, [on a] consistent basis. Accord-
ing to the Department of Agriculture, more than 30 million chil-
dren in the U.S. count on schools for free or low-cost meals. So
when schools and childcare centers close, children miss out on es-
sential food services.
Let’s not forget the economic downside of keeping schools closed.
If children can’t attend school, parents can’t return to work. In fact,
the Brookings Institution argues, the world could lose, the world
could lose, as much as $10 trillion over the coming generation as
a result of school closures today. [CR2]
School closures also disproportionately impact the economic well-
being of lower-income and single-parent households. While families
with multiple workers may be able to have one working adult scale
back in their hours or quit their job to take on caregiving duties
full-time, this is unlikely to be feasible for all families, especially
those already struggling financially during this economic downturn.
7
In May, the CDC released guidance on reopening schools that in-
clude ways in which schools can help protect students, teachers,
administrators, and staff. These guidelines recognize that each
school is unique, and there will be no one-size-fits-all solution to re-
opening.
Given that schools vary in their location, size, structure, the CDC
recommends that school officials should determine in collaboration
with State and local health officials whether and how to implement
CDC guidance. Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics also
released guidance for schools. They strongly advocated that all poli-
cies considerations for the coming school year should start with a
goal of having students physically present in school.
What do educators think? The American Federation of Teachers
found that 76 percent of educators surveyed will be comfortable re-
turning if certain health and safety conditions were met at their
school. This includes daily cleaning and sanitizing of school facili-
ties, additional protections for at-risk students and staff, and avail-
ability of protective equipment. These are steps we can and should
take to safely reopen our schools.
That is why this morning, I introduced the Educational Flexi-
bility for Families Act, legislation that requires K-12 schools to pro-
vide an option for students to safely attend in-person classes for
the upcoming school year in order to be eligible for any federal as-
sistance.
My bill would ensure that the option for in-person learning is on
the table and available for families around the country who want
their children to safely return to the classroom this fall.
I am proud of the educational leaders in my district who are
committed to providing families the flexibility they need this school
year, whether it is in the classroom, distance learning, home
schooling, or a hybrid model. The bottom line is, schools must be
prepared to provide every student effective instruction this fall and
customized to that student.
The health and future of our Nation’s students depend on it. I
thank our witnesses for testifying on this important topic today,
and I look forward to hearing from them about the measures we
can take to safely reopen America’s classrooms this fall, and I yield
back.
[The statement of Mr. Allen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Rick W. Allen, Ranking Member,
Subcommittee Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
Reopening America’s schools has dominated family conversations around the
country the last few weeks. The good news is, science is on our side and federal
agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state
agencies, like the Georgia Department of Public Health, have provided detailed re-
ports on how we can reopen schools safely. I hope during today’s hearing, we can
put political finger pointing aside, and put our children’s interests first while we dis-
cuss, not if, but how we can safely reopen schools this fall.
I know both my Democrat and Republican colleagues agree that students are
being harmed by the physical closure of schools, and that we need to provide the
option of in-person instruction. As we gear up for a new school year this fall, this
question of how to reopen our nation’s schools safely needs to be a top priority for
this Committee.
This past spring more than 55 million students were affected by COVID–19-re-
lated school closures. That number accounts for approximately 97 percent of stu-
dents nationwide. The result? Well, the numbers speak for themselves.
8
The Collaborative for Student Growth projected that some students could experi-
ence as much as a 50 percent reduction in typical learning gains as a result of
school closures. Another analysis conducted by McKinsey and Company, a con-
sulting group, found that when all the impacts of COVID–19 are taken into account,
the average student could fall seven months behind academically.
As Leader McCarthy argued, we cannot afford to let a generation miss out on
being taught. President Trump also recognizes the vital importance of safety and
reopening America’s schools.
Sadly, learning loss isn’t the only challenge students face due to school closures.
This pandemic and subsequent school closures have drastically reduced interactions
between vulnerable children and trusted adults while exacerbating conditions that
contribute to child abuse and neglect such as financial strain and social isolation.
School closures diminish educators’ abilities to serve these vulnerable students.
Additionally, for some children, school is the only place where they receive nutri-
tious meals on a consistent basis. According to the Department of Agriculture, more
than 30 million children in the U.S. count on schools for free or low-cost meals, so
when schools and child care centers close, children miss out on essential food serv-
ices.
Let’s not forget the economic downside of keeping schools closed. If children can’t
attend school, parents can’t return to work. In fact, the Brookings Institution argues
’the world could lose as much as $10 trillion over the coming generation as a result
of school closures today.’ School closures also disproportionately impact the economic
well-being of lower-income and single parent households. While families with mul-
tiple workers may be able to have one working adult scale back their hours or quit
their job to take on caregiving duties full time, this is unlikely to be feasible for
all families, especially those already struggling financially during the economic
downturn.
In May, the CDC released guidance on reopening schools that includes ways in
which schools can help protect students, teachers, administrators, and staff.
These guidelines recognize that each school is unique and there will be no one-
size-fits-all solution to reopening. Given that schools vary in their location, size, and
structure, the CDC recommends that school officials should determine, in collabora-
tion with state and local health officials, whether and how to implement CDC guid-
ance.
Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics also released guidance for schools.
They strongly advocated ’that all policy considerations for the coming school year
should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.’
What do educators think? The American Federation of Teachers found that 76
percent of educators surveyed would be comfortable returning if certain health and
safety conditions were met at their school. This includes daily cleaning and sani-
tizing of school facilities, additional protections for at-risk students and staff, and
availability of protective equipment. These are steps we can and should take to safe-
ly reopen our schools.
That is why this morning I introduced the Educational Flexibility for Families
Act, legislation that requires K–12 schools to provide an option for students to safely
attend in-person classes for the upcoming school year in order to be eligible for any
federal assistance. My bill would ensure that the option for in-person learning is on
the table and available for families around the country who want their children to
safely return to the classroom this fall. I am proud of the education leaders in my
district who are committed to providing families the flexibility they need this school
year— whether it’s in the classroom, distance learning, homeschooling or a hybrid
model.
The bottom line is, schools must be prepared to provide every student effective
instruction this fall. The health and future of our nation’s students depends on it.
I thank our witnesses for testifying on this important topic today, and I look for-
ward to hearing from them about the measures we can take to safely reopen Amer-
ica’s classrooms this fall.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Ranking Member Allen, for that
opening statement.
All the Members who wish to insert written statements into the
record may do so by submitting them to the Committee Clerk elec-
tronically in Microsoft Word format by 5 p.m. on Thursday, August
6th, 2020.
9
I will now introduce our witnesses. First is Dr. Michael Hinojosa,
superintendent of Dallas Independent School District. Mr. Hinojosa
has served as the Dallas ISD superintendent since 2015. He served
20 years as a superintendent CEO of six public education systems,
including two of the 25 largest school systems in America. He is
past president of the Texas Association of School Administrators.
He is a proud graduate of Dallas Independent School District, and
also a doctorate in education from the University of Texas in Aus-
tin.
Next is Ms. Leslie Boggs, President of the National PTA. Ms.
Boggs is the 56th president of [the] National PTA. The Nation’s
oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association. A leader-
ship development expert from Odessa, Texas, Boggs has over 20
years of leadership experience at all levels of PTA. At the State
level, Ms. Boggs serves as president of the Texas PTA and New
Mexico PTA. A mother of three and a grandmother of four, Boggs
is a dedicated and passionate advocate for children and their right
to receiving a quality public education no matter their demo-
graphics, ethnicity, or household income.
Next is Dr. Penny Schwinn joining us here in the committee
room, Commissioner of Education for the State of Tennessee. Dr.
Schwinn comes from a family of educators and is committed to in-
creasing access to excellent education for all children. She began
her work as a high school history and economics teacher in Balti-
more. Dr. Schwinn was sworn in as Tennessee Education Commis-
sioner on February 1, 2019. And prior to joining the Tennessee De-
partment of Education, Commissioner Schwinn served as a Chief
Deputy Commissioner of Academics for the Texas Education Agen-
cy. Commissioner Schwinn earned her Bachelor of Arts from the
University of California Berkeley, her Master’s of Arts in teaching
from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. in education policy
from Claremont Graduate University in California.
Last is Dr. Sean O’Leary, M.D., professor of pediatrics infectious
diseases at University of Colorado. Dr. O’Leary is a professor of pe-
diatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Chil-
dren’s Hospital, Colorado, a pediatric infectious disease specialist,
and a director of the Colorado Children’s Outcomes Network. He is
an accomplished researcher with over 120 peer review publications.
His research focuses on vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr. O’Leary
is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on
School Health and serves as the vice chairman on the Committee
on Infectious Diseases for the AAP. He also served as a liaison to
the CDC Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices for the
Pediatric Infectious Disease Society. Dr. O’Leary co-authored the
AAP’s guidance for school re-entry.
We appreciate the witnesses for participating today and look for-
ward to your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses that we have
read your written statements, and they will appear in full in the
hearing record. Pursuant to committee Rules 7(d) and committee
practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a
five-minute summary of your written statement. Let me remind the
witnesses that pursuant to Title 18 of the U.S. Code Section 1001,
it is illegal to knowingly and willfully falsify any statement, rep-
10
resentation, writing document or material fact presented to Con-
gress or otherwise construe or cover up a material fact.
During your testimony, staff will be keeping track of time, and
will use a chime to signal when one minute is left and when time
is up entirely. It will sound a short chime when there is one minute
left and a longer chime when time is up. Please be attentive to the
time and wrap up when your time is over and remute your system.
With the witnesses participating remotely, if any of you experi-
ence technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the
hearing, you should stay connected on the platform, make sure you
are muted with the mute button highlighted in red, and use your
phone to immediately call the committee’s IT director, Sheila
Havenner, whose number has been provided.
We will let all the witnesses make their presentations before we
move to members’ questions. When answering a question, please
remember to unmute your system.
And I will first recognize Dr. Hinojosa. Sir, you have five min-
utes.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL HINOJOSA, ED.D.,
SUPERINTENDENT, DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Mr. HINOJOSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Members of the
committee, I do appreciate this opportunity to testify in front of you
this morning. My name is Michael Hinojosa, and I am the super-
intendent of the Dallas Independent School District. I am also here
representing AASA, the Superintendents Association. As I am a
member of the COVID–19 Recovery Task Force, and it is an honor,
as I said, to be in front of you today.
The Dallas ISD has 153,000 students, and right now, we are pre-
paring to launch the school year, and we face many challenges.
When we shut down right before spring break, we had to offer, we
decided to offer some opportunities for learning at home. We have
a master plan to deploy devices to all of our students, but we had
to accelerate that plan, and then we ran into some other issues
about connectivity once the devices got into the hands of our stu-
dents and families.
So we figured out that we try to train teachers and get everyone
prepared almost on a moment’s notice, but learned that we would
have some significant long-term issues on how we respond to those
matters.
When we started this journey back in March, Dallas County only
had a total of 1,300 cases, of confirmed cases in the county. In the
month of July, we have had 14 consecutive days where we have
had over 1,000 cases per day.
So the context has been changing significantly as we have move
forward. We are now learning that our best option may be to do
distance learning. We certainly want to see our students, we
haven’t seen our students since March, and we know that we need
to see our students but things are evolving. And, in fact, tonight,
I am meeting with my school board to present our latest option
about adjusting our calendar so that we can offer both remote and
on-campus instruction, but how we actually do that, we need to buy
some time with our school board.
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Recently, also, the State of Texas has pivoted a little bit. An
issue they said we would have to have in-person instruction before
we would qualify for any funding. Now, they have given us more
leeway, they have now given us a full-week window where we could
have virtual instruction before we have to do in-person instruction,
and still be able to qualify for State funding for our public edu-
cation.
The COVID cases have been 1,000 a day for this month. How-
ever, we have some recent good news, because we have been asked
to really wear mask and social distance. The last 2 days have been
a lot better in Dallas County. We went to over 1,700 to 400. The
bad news is that the deaths have increased significantly in the
county. So there is this lag effect, and that is precisely why we are
asking for more time for our families.
In addition, it is also very important for you to know that 91 per-
cent of our families are ethnic minority, Black and Latino families.
And so, these are the two largest groups that are negatively af-
fected by the crisis.
When we started this journey, we surveyed our parents. Early
on, 30 percent of our parents said they wanted an at-home learning
option, and 70 percent said they wanted to come in person. As the
crisis got worse, we are now at a 50/50 split. And, now, we feel that
if we did a survey today, it would be more than 50 percent of our
parents that would ask for an opportunity for virtual instruction.
And then, the next matter that is also changing, early on when
we asked our teachers how many were ready to come back, ready,
willing, and able, 91 percent of our teachers said they were ready,
willing, and able to come back. As we talked to our teacher organi-
zations that were doing a new survey, that has completely changed.
We are probably at 50/50, maybe even less than that as we try to
communicate with our teachers. We have a lot of employees that
signed up to speak to our school board this evening as a result of
the changing CARES Act.
I know that my time is running short, but I also want to say that
we—broadband connectivity is a huge issue for us. If we actually
have to shut down, it is going to be very imperative for us to have
an opportunity to continue learning at home. We had—there are
several bills in front of Congress that would make this a reality for
us to knock down the front door to be able to have high-quality
broadband connectivity for all of our families, not only for edu-
cation, but also to have telemedicine, and also the ability to apply
for a job.
But, we are fortunate right now we have some funds in reserve,
but that is not true for most school districts. And the number of
bills that are in front of Congress, we know that Congress had to
help large business, small business, and even individual families.
But now State and local governments need that support as well, in-
cluding firefighters and our teachers to make sure that we have an
opportunity to be successful in the future years.
Now, thank you very much, and I will yield my time. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Hinojosa follows:]
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Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Dr. Hinojosa. You know, you see
how five minutes goes by so fast. But thank you.
I now recognize Ms. Boggs. Ms. Boggs, you have five minutes,
please, thank you.
STATEMENT OF LESLIE BOGGS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL
PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION
Ms. BOGGS. Chairman Sablan, Ranking Member Allen, and
Members of this subcommittee, thank you so much for this oppor-
tunity to testify today on what is needed to support the safe re-
opening of our Nation’s public schools in the midst of this pan-
demic. I am here today on behalf of National PTA, the nation’s old-
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est and largest child advocacy association with congresses in all 50
states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and DC. Since 1897, Na-
tional PTA has been a strong advocate, and the resource for mil-
lions of parents, teachers, grandparents, families, and community
members, who share a commitment to improving the education and
health and safety for all children. We speak with one voice for
every child.
As the President of [the] National PTA, I have seen firsthand
how the partnership between parents and school leaders is now
more important than ever. Unfortunately, this pandemic is far from
over, and we cannot downplay the critical nature of this virus. We
are seeing a substantial increase in cases across the country, in-
cluding in my own home State of Texas.
Children are the future of our Nation, and we must keep them
safe. Claims that all children are asymptomatic and can’t spread
virus are simply not true. Our utmost priority during this time con-
tinues to be the health and safety of all students, their families,
educators, and school personnel.
States and school districts, or the federal government, should not
simply push plans for reopening schools on parents. State and
school district leaders must meaningfully engage with parents and
stakeholders on developing plans to reopen schools, and subse-
quently throughout the year, as changes occur in plans and strate-
gies to ensure both learning and safety.
Parents know the value of in-person instruction, and want their
children to be back in school this year. However, this must be done
safely and effectively and with engagement of all stakeholders, es-
pecially parents and students. Our association understands that
the reopening of our Nation’s schools during this crisis is vital to
ensure the continuity of education. However, it should not out-
weigh the safety and the mental and physical health of our stu-
dents, educators, staff, and families.
Our Nation’s parents and educators have significant concerns. In
fact, we recently surveyed parents and other stakeholders during
an online forum last week, and 72 percent were not confident that
schools could physically reopen in a safe manner.
Regardless of each approach to beginning the school year, safely
and effectively reopening schools is going to take resources. Wheth-
er schools begin the year in person, remotely, or a hybrid combina-
tion, funding our Nation’s public schools should not be political. It
is an investment in our Nation’s future success. Schools must be
prepared to address the transition back to school. The trauma of
a pandemic and the many instructional issues, including the effects
of learning loss and the digital divide. The added strain of recovery
from a worldwide pandemic will wreak havoc on all localities, and
will require significant, immediate, and continuing support and re-
sources from federal and State governments.
National PTA is encouraged by and thankful for the adoption of
previous COVID–19 packages. However, despite these actions,
there are and will be continued needs Congress must address. Na-
tional PTA has been advocating for many weeks for additional aid
for our public schools in response to this virus.
Before I reiterate our previous recommendations, I want to rein-
force our opposition to any private school voucher programs or
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other mechanisms to funnel public dollars to private schools. Our
public schools must be fully funded. Our larger recommendations
called for action in five areas. Building off the education stabiliza-
tion fund, the fourth emergency COVID response bill must be pro-
vided at least $175 billion in emergency funding directly to States
to support K-12 education.
Next, we are recognizing the devastation of facing State and local
economy. It is clear that when schools open their doors, their stu-
dent population will be significantly needier. We have urged Con-
gress to provide $13 billion for the IDEA, and $12 billion for Title
I in addition to funding provided throughout the fiscal year 2021.
Next, outside of, and in addition to the fiscal stabilization fund,
Congress must include $4 billion in funding for remote learning
through the E-Rate Program.
Next is a provision for a one-time infusion of $245 million for the
statewide family engagement centers to enable them to support the
needs of families, children, and educators, during this crisis.
And, last but not least, is the increased funding for food at USDA
to prevent prepared food insecurities. To help schools [inaudible]
and meet protocols as students physically go back.
National PTA does urge the Congress to act swiftly. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Boggs follows:]
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Chairman SABLAN. All right. Ms. Boggs, thank you very much for
your statement.
And I now would like to recognize Dr. Schwinn who did not take
a flight from Baltimore to join us here in the this morning. Dr.
Schwinn, you have five minutes, please.
STATEMENT OF PENNY SCHWINN, PH.D., COMMISSIONER OF
EDUCATION, TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Ms. SCHWINN. Good morning, Chairman Sablan, Ranking Mem-
ber Allen, and Members of the subcommittee, thank you for invit-
ing me today.
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I very much appreciate the opportunity to share Tennessee’s
story, and the incredible work that continues to be done by our dis-
tricts, educators, and Department of Education on behalf of stu-
dents. I also want to thank Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee
General Assembly, for their unwavering support in prioritizing
education.
I am proud that Tennessee has committed to maintaining the
same level of State funding to our districts as in previous years,
demonstrating the State’s clear and continued commitment to
schools. However, we also know that this is not like other years.
We know that this school year will look and feel different. Districts
are trying to make decisions with constantly updated information,
and the lives and livelihoods of children and staff to consider. This
is a serious discussion that is worthy of a greater understanding
of the complexities that exist for schools, staff, and families.
At the core, our systems have the monumental task of keeping
people safe and healthy, so that we can provide children with a
strong education. In Tennessee, most districts are choosing to in-
clude both an in-person and a remote option, and are focusing on
how to do that safely. These are unimaginably hard, taxing, and
critical decisions. And as we prepare for school reopening, there are
three primary areas that must be addressed: the health and safety
in schools, technology, and child well-being.
First, to safely reopen schools, we must put the health of our stu-
dents and staff in front of mind. Under Governor Lee’s leadership,
the Department of Education has partnered closely with other
agencies to address the needs of the pandemic. The cross-agency
partnership has led to a number of significant resources for our
schools, including PPE for every staff member, disinfecting kits for
classrooms, and resources co-developed with the Department of
Health. To reopen, we must provide these types of assurances and
deliver.
Second, we must address the opportunity in access gaps in tech-
nology and broadband that exist for our students and their teach-
ers. Governor Lee recently announced $50 million in technology
grants for our districts, which will support purchasing one com-
puter for one-third of all students in Tennessee in grades 3 through
12. This investment in devices allows for continuity instruction
when remote learning is required. However, it is also a critical in-
vestment in our education system that is necessary now, and will
continue to pay dividends in the future.
Finally, school reopening must consider child well-being regard-
less of the format of instruction being provided so that every child
has his or her needs met and services provided. When schools are
closed, those services become more challenging to deliver, and can
impact a child’s ongoing development. The department created a
robust child well-being task force to focus on the needs of students
as they return to school. This has been done alongside significant
academic resources, free professional development for teachers and
principals, and grants to expand opportunities for both children
and school staff, to address the learning loss and child well-being
needs that resulted from school closures.
In closing, we must continue to ask ourselves, what is in the best
interest of students and staff as we balance the needs of commu-
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nity health, access to strong educational opportunities, financial
stability for families, and critical services to students?
Education is personal to everyone. We aren’t just talking about
an abstract idea. We are talking about children. My girls, the stu-
dents I serve in Tennessee, our children, it is nothing if it is not
personal, which is why we must treat it as such, and not as an ei-
ther/or conversation.
Families must make their own choices, and districts must ensure
that they are considering the feasibility of providing those choices.
If schools are going to be open, it must be done safely and with suf-
ficient health protocols and supplies in place. It must also allow the
flexibilities necessary to protect vulnerable staff and students. If
schools are going to be closed, then we will need to have clear plans
on how we will support working families who may not have an op-
tion to work from home, how to provide food to students just as
they would receive at school, how to provide the required special
education, language, counseling, and health services necessary for
students to continue to learn and grow, how to remotely teach chil-
dren to read, how to address the increasing and unreported cases
of abuse and suicide that have been noted, and how to do all of this
while still ensuring children continue to be educated.
Any option we choose has consequences, which is why options are
so important. It is also why federal funding will continue to help
our schools to create those options with the resources necessary to
do so safely and responsibly for all. But there is a clock. Schools
are starting. This is one of those moments for our field and our
country. Our kids deserve our best right now and nothing less is
acceptable. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Schwinn follows:]
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Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Dr. Schwinn. Thank you for ig-
noring the clock at this morning’s hearing.
I will now like to recognize Dr. O’Leary for five minutes, please.
STATEMENT OF SEAN O’LEARY, MD, MPH, FAAP, VICE CHAIR,
COMMITTEE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AMERICAN ACAD-
EMY OF PEDIATRICS
Dr. O’LEARY. Chairman Sablan and Ranking Member Allen,
thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. My name
is Sean O’Leary, and I am a practicing infectious disease pediatri-
cian from Denver, Colorado. As a parent of two children in public
schools, this issue is both professional and personal for me. I work
35
at Children’s Hospital, Colorado, and I am testifying today on be-
half of the American Academy of Pediatrics. As the Vice Chair of
the Committee on Infectious Diseases, I am part of the team that
authored AAP’s guidance on school re-entry.
The purpose of the Academy’s guidance is to inform school re-
entry policies that foster the overall health of children and adoles-
cents, while also protecting teachers, staff, and communities. Our
guidance is based on the best, currently available evidence and is
updated as new evidence comes to light and we learn more about
COVID–19.
We start from the knowledge that children get much more than
an education at school. In addition to math, reading, and science,
schools help students develop important social and emotional skills,
offer healthy meals, and provide physical activity, among many
other benefits. Lengthy time away from school deprives students of
these benefits, and makes it difficult for schools to identify and ad-
dress learning deficits, child abuse, substance use, depression, and
suicidal ideation.
Any parent of school-aged children can tell you the difficulties we
faced when schools shut down in the spring. My own children miss
their friends, and they also missed out on learning and physical ac-
tivity. As working parents, we struggle to find ways to meet their
needs and perform our jobs at the same time.
The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and
there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children be-
cause of school closures. The impact has been particularly hard on
minority children as well as children who are medically fragile and
developmental or physical disabilities, and those living at or near
poverty. AAP carefully weighed the available evidence and deter-
mined that our overall goal should be to have students physically
present in school this fall. However, this can only happen with
careful measures to keep students, teachers, and staff safe, and
with flexibility to adapt as needed to the community’s prevalence
of COVID–19.
This does not mean that we recommend that all schools open 5
days a week from the start of the school year. Many parts of the
country are currently experiencing uncontrolled spread of COVID–
19. While the AAP urges those areas to maintain in-person learn-
ing as the goal, we recognize that many jurisdictions will need to
utilize distance-learning strategies until cases decline.
Although many questions remain, our guidance is based on evi-
dence that children and adolescents are less likely to be sympto-
matic, particularly, younger children, and less likely to have severe
disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A study that was just published from South Korea showed that
children under age 10 were roughly half as likely, compared to
other age groups, to spread COVID–19 to others. The same study
also suggested that adolescents and teens, age 10 to 19, may
spread the virus at rates similar to adults. With these data in
mind, school systems may consider prioritizing return of younger
children and taking additional measures to ensure physical
distancing and the wearing of face coverings for older children.
It also needs to be acknowledged that COVID–19 policies are in-
tended to mitigate, not eliminate risks. While no single action will
36
completely eliminate the risk of transmission, implementation of
several coordinated interventions can greatly reduce that risk.
Schools will need to follow guidance from public health officials, ad-
here to health monitoring and cleaning protocols, utilize face cov-
erings as much as possible, and urge frequent hand washing.
Schools will also need to have sufficient PPE for teachers and
staff, implement new procedures for busing, and put protocols in
place for how to respond when a student or teacher tests positive.
It is also important that children are up to date on all vaccines,
including the influenza vaccine and have their annual checkups.
Schools must also be prepared to address a wide-range of mental
health needs of children and staff when schools reopen. The emo-
tional impact of the pandemic, including a loss of family members,
financial concerns, and social isolation demands careful attention
and planning.
In order for schools to be able to safely reopen with students in
the classroom, Congress must provide sufficient funding to help
schools adapt and make necessary changes and accommodations.
Specifically, the AAP urges Congress to provide at least $200 bil-
lion in funding to help schools reopen. Money must be available to
all schools, regardless of their timeline for reopening.
Schools and areas with high rates of COVID–19 spread may need
to consider delaying the return to full-time in-person instruction.
These schools will need the same or greater federal investments,
not less.
In closing, reopening schools in a way that maximizes safety,
learning, and the well-being of children in the communities will
clearly require substantial new investments in our schools.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, Chairman Sablan
and Ranking Member Allen. .
[The statement of Dr. O’Leary follows:]
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Chairman SABLAN. Well, thank you, Dr. O’Leary. Thank you, and
thank you to all the witnesses for their statements. Under Com-
mittee Rule 8(a), we will now question witnesses under the five-
minute rule.
I will be recognizing subcommittee members in seniority order.
And, again, in order to ensure that the members’ five-minute rule
is adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time, and will use the
chime signal when 1 minute is left and when time is up entirely.
It will sound a short chime when there is 1 minute left, and a
longer chime when time is up. You can miss the chime, the longer
time. So please be attentive to the time and wrap up when your
time is over.
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Again, if any member experiences technical difficulties during
the hearing, you should stay connected on the platform, make sure
you are muted with the mute button highlighted in red, and use
your phone to immediately call the Committee’s IT Director, Ms.
Sheila Havenner, whose number has been provided.
And as chairman, I recognize myself for five minutes. I have my
first question for the president of PTA, Ms. Boggs.
Ms. Boggs, how many schools plan to implement rotating sched-
ules where students who rotate daily, weekly, monthly, or on a
quarterly basis? Public schools in my district also plan a staggered
schedule under a partial reopening scenario. So how have families
reacted to the idea of rotating school schedules, what is the status
of parents from rotating schedules when they have children across
different grade levels, what challenges can rotating schedules
present for parents who are essential or onsite workers, or families
who have multiple children in schools across different grade levels?
Ms. BOGGS. Thank you. As I visited with all of the State presi-
dents across our Nation, it was evident that every school is imple-
menting a different plan, and it should be locally based [inaudible]
within the community. There is no one way for everyone to do it
the same. I think it is important that the school districts have con-
versations with their parents and their students and their edu-
cators to find the best plan, whether that should be in person, re-
motely, or hybrid. I think it is going to change, even if you heard
Dr. Hinojosa from Texas [inaudible] in our State. [Inaudible] see
for all others. How do parents feel about that? Well, they are con-
cerned. You know, we had an online forum with infectious disease
doctors, 72 percent of the parents were not sure about the safety
of schools. So it is important when we talk about funding that ev-
eryone understand we need to really fund our schools appropriately
to help them address the virus.
It is a lot of, I get it, of money being asked for. But we are at
war with a disease that is infecting this entire country. And the fu-
ture is at risk because our students are the foundation for our Na-
tion. They need to be protected as well as the educators that are
giving them the tools to be successful.
So when you talk about challenges, what we have seen and what
we have heard from everyone on your panel, is that distance learn-
ing is not the best way. All parents, not one, wants their, schools
to be reopened and their children to be at school. So it is really im-
portant that everyone understands parents are not against going
back in-person. They are just worried about the safety of their stu-
dents and of their children, and of the educators as well, this is an
essential business for our Nation. We need to carefully fund it and
enact the right resources for everyone to be successful.
And that is why you saw PTA with the [inaudible] ask that we
are asking for. It is important no matter what you do, remotely or
hybrid, you are going to need to. We ask that you do that as Con-
gress.
Chairman SABLAN. All right. Thank you. And before I forget, I
will seek unanimous consent to enter into the record, a short pres-
entation submitted by Dr. Bobby Cruz, of the Director of Instruc-
tional Technology of the North Marianas American Public School
System.
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Chairman SABLAN. Dr.—Ms. Boggs, again, for among parents,
was there a preferred rotating schedule where there is half day, 2
days a week, A, B, C schedule, or a day a week?
Ms. BOGGS. We know—we didn’t see a clear path for—every par-
ent is different as every community is different. So I think, really,
the best option for you and Congress is to think about giving local
control, giving them the resources to be successful. If you ask them
their first choice, it is for their children to be in school, but then
again, safety is of utmost importance.
Chairman SABLAN. All right. So the National School Board of
Education would not work. I mean, one size does not fit all, I think.
My time is up, and I will submit, I have questions for the record.
So at this time, I recognize the ranking member, Mr. Allen, for
his five minutes of questioning. Thank you.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Schwinn, I want to thank you for being here today to talk
about this critical topic. You know, I believe that every family has
a right to educational options. And, particularly, this fall, I think
that the one thing that we might benefit from in this terrible pan-
demic we have been through is, I am seeing remarkable parental
engagement in children’s education now. And I am seeing that the
parents are seeing our education system a lot different. And I think
they are going to be demanding options in the future. But obvi-
ously, every child is different. I have surveyed my grandchildren.
And I have surveyed their parents. And, you know, one says, well,
you know, I—you know, like she can learn how to distance learn,
but she has got to be in school. And so every child is different.
And I think that, again, you know, the problem with Congress
is there has been this one-size-fits-all, this is what you got to do.
What I hear from educators across the country is they don’t have
any flexibility when they get the funding, because every school dis-
trict is different.
In your testimony, you discussed the choices you have had to
make in Tennessee around physically reopening the schools. Have
you looked at what is at stake if you don’t set a goal of in-person
learning to give parents that option this fall?
Ms. SCHWINN. Yes, sir. And thank you so much for the question.
I think Tennessee is a great example of a State that has urban,
suburban, rural communities. All have different needs and chal-
lenges, and that is why we think that parent choices are so impor-
tant about what is best for their own child. We are thinking about
the risks and consequences of not reopening schools, and that hav-
ing that choice available, we looked at our data and projected out
the significant learning loss for students.
I think many of you remember we had tornados before the pan-
demic, so some of our students had been out of school for 6 months
or longer. We know we are going to have learning loss. That affects
our most vulnerable population more than anyone else, and espe-
cially when we think about our early learners. We have looked at
our child development statistics. We have worked closely across
State agencies around that and have noted that more of our vulner-
able populations are at risk, and they rely on schools for services.
It is logistically very difficult to provide those services of children
that are not in school. And so some of the things that we are think-
65
ing about are how do we get rules schools to open in safe way, and
provide resources so that families have those options that are so
critically important for their children.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you. Well, I know you and I both care about
students, and—and we care about their health and welfare. But we
also have to look at the economy, and I don’t think those these two
things are mutually exclusive.
In fact, this Congress is spending an enormous amount of money
to try to deal with this pandemic. I don’t think that is going to be
good for our children. I think it is going to affect generations and
generations and generations of our children because of this huge
debt that we are building in this government, and it does not seem
like there is going to be an end. And I don’t think it is—I know
it is not sustainable.
But American families are struggling, because of COVID–19, and
they are concerned about their children’s future. It seems clear to
me that the primary way we can help struggling families now is
by working to reopen schools. In other words, in our rural commu-
nities, we have got to reopen schools. I don’t think we have a
choice. W are already reopening businesses, and businesses are
doing incredible, innovative work to make sure that we keep—one
is our food supply, if you can believe it. I mean, we had some chal-
lenges with that.
But I recognize that reopening schools presents a lot of chal-
lenges, and there is so much we still don’t know about this virus.
Can you discuss the unique challenges to—that you have tackled
in reopening the schools in Tennessee, and how can what you have
been able to do help those schools across this country? I think we
need idea sharing, although every community is different. But
what are some things you have implemented you would like to
share with us?
Ms. SCHWINN. Absolutely. So, briefly, we have done a lot with
academics. We will have an online academic system with video les-
sons. We have offered free PD for teachers and principals over
18,000 teachers and over half the principals in the State have PDs
ready to go back. Governor Lee has appropriated funds for face
masks, gloves, disinfecting wipes, et cetera, for every single class-
room in the State. So we have done a lot to make sure schools are
safe and people are ready and will continue to do that.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you very much, and I yield back. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman. That alarm is obnoxious, if I can say that.
Mrs. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, could they ring it five or six times and
then stop because it makes difficult to hear the witness. I mean—
Mr. ALLEN. Maybe one time.
Chairman SABLAN. Well, I think the clock is when it rings it
stops. I mean, witnesses try their best to stay, they are actually
stay within the five minutes. I just—I don’t control the clock. I
have got a cheap Casio, you know, I can’t depend on it. It is actu-
ally brand new, too, because I broke my—
Anyway, next up is Mrs. Hayes, our national teacher of the year,
you have five minutes.
Mrs. HAYES. Thank you to everyone for being here today. I think
we all want schools to reopen and to go back to normal, but I think
reality is that no one can say with absolute certainty that we can
66
do that safely, not governors, not commissioners, not the Secretary
of Education, not the President, not this committee. So I think we
have to explore every available option and every precaution to keep
students and faculty safe.
My question is for Dr. O’Leary. I have talked to many in my dis-
trict about plans that they have for reopening, and I am concerned
because none of those plans involve testing. Do you believe that
States and districts should be responsible for ensuring that individ-
uals in schools have access to testing if they request it or if that
is needed?
Dr. O’LEARY. Thank you for that question. It is an incredibly
complicated issue right now. You know, I wish we had more testing
capacity in the U.S., that would greatly help matters right now.
But, you know, like many of you are discussing, as I am sure you
are well aware, they are very contextual down to the district and
even down to the school level. And so I know that schools across
the country are asking that same question, how are we going to get
testing done?
So just to point out, I don’t believe all students before attending
school, that doesn’t appear to be a good approach, because if you
are positive—or if negative one day, then you are going to be nega-
tive the next day. So testing asymptomatic students and the staff,
I think, is really not in the cards at this point, given the testing
capacity.
In terms of testing symptomatic students, yes, we absolutely
have to have plans in place for how to do that safely. You know,
as we approach the school year, and inevitably some other res-
piratory viruses [that] mimic COVID–19 are going to circulate, we
need to have plans in place on how we handle that. And to get
those tested with a turnaround time that is reasonable, turnaround
times really don’t help you right now.
So if you have seven—waiting seven days for a test, that doesn’t
help, and that is going to exclude students for longer than is nec-
essary. Most of them are actually not going to have COVID–19.
So I absolutely 100 percent agree with you that we need to come
up with a good plan for testing, but it is going to be contextual at
this point, even down to the school district.
Mrs. HAYES. Thank you, because what I have heard—I guess my
granular question on that regard is, if you have a faculty member,
a student or someone who says I feel symptomatic, can I be tested?
So I understand that we can’t do a universal testing plan, but no
one has been able to answer to me if a staff member comes in and
they say, I am feeling symptomatic, most of the responses that I
have gotten is that they would have to seek some type of commu-
nity-based testing or figure it out on their own.
There is a national poll of school principals that found that many
principals are concerned over the safety of their staff, especially
those who are older or immuno-compromised.
Dr. Hinojosa, do you have a plan to address the concerns of our
most vulnerable staff members?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for—
Mrs. HAYES. I mean, not just teachers, everyone in the building.
Cafeteria workers, vendors, everyone who is in and out of our edu-
cational spaces.
67
Mr. HINOJOSA. No, absolutely, we have a form we distribute to
all of our employees to give us specific information on their health
conditions, and we will handle those on a case-by-case basis. What
you described is an issue we faced this summer, as we were trying
to distribute food, half a million meals a week to our employees
[students]—we had difficulty finding enough employees to come
and distribute the meals. That is why we went to one day a week
to distribute meals and technology to all of our students.
So we do have a plan, we ask them to identify, and then we will
work with them individually on how we execute this. But I concur
with the [inaudible] on that because communicated that very same
feeling to us locally here in this district.
Mrs. HAYES. Thank you.
I have also heard from leaders that they are afraid that this situ-
ation may lead to a shortage of full-time teachers and substitute
teachers. I think there is a population that we haven’t really talked
about. How would this potential shortage in the teacher workforce
affect students with disabilities?
Dr. Hinojosa?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yeah. Students with disabilities is probably our
biggest concern right now, because, actually, many of them, espe-
cially medically fragile students, the teachers need to get very close
to them. And if they already have a medical condition, this is going
to exacerbate the shortage area.
We have a shortage of bilingual and special ed teachers. So this
situation is not going to help, and it will make it more difficult to
hire qualified employees in these positions.
Mrs. HAYES. Thank you.
My time is about to expire, but, Dr. Schwinn, I have just one
question. Can anything that you have talked about or any of the
interventions that you have discussed happen without government
or federal resources and support, yes or no?
Ms. SCHWINN. We will appreciate any resources that will help us
open schools safely.
Mrs. HAYES. Can you do it without it?
Ms. SCHWINN. We will—
Mrs. HAYES. Yes or no?
Ms. SCHWINN. Those resources will be incredibly helpful to
schools.
Mrs. HAYES. Yes or no?
Ms. SCHWINN. That is the answer. Tennessee is doing great work
to make sure we can reopen our schools safely.
Mrs. HAYES. Thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much, Mrs. Hayes.
I would now like to recognize the full committee ranking mem-
ber, Dr. Foxx, for five minutes, please.
Mrs. FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I want to thank all of our witnesses for participating in the
hearing today, and particularly to Dr. Schwinn for being here in
the committee room.
Thank you for the work you and your schools have done in Ten-
nessee to serve the students since the outbreak and for coming
here today to discuss the ways we can help students get the edu-
cation they need in the upcoming year.
68
In many ways, the best way to do so is in person. Despite com-
mendable efforts by educators, students, and families during the
unexpected months of remote learning, it is clear that for many
students the greatest chance for success is that in-person instruc-
tion in the classroom.
Can you describe the advantages of having students in person
this fall?
Ms. SCHWINN. Absolutely, and thank you for that question.
I think that it is critical that we have opportunities for students
to be in person. I have two young daughters myself. Both are in
third grade, and one is in kindergarten. And so thinking about, for
our very young learners, the need to learn to read, that is very dif-
ficult to do remotely.
We also know that many of our students rely on services like
special education. To go to a previous question, Tennessee is look-
ing at innovative options like having 200 teachers get endorse-
ments for special education at the cost to the State so we can pro-
vide those resources in schools.
But when we think about what schools provide—healthcare,
counseling services, et cetera—that can be done in schools, and
schools being reopened is incredibly important for those.
Mrs. FOXX. Well, it sounds to me like you are focusing on stu-
dents, and that is something that needs to be done. I have said for
years, schools are basically focused on administrators and teachers
and their convenience, not for focusing on students. So thank you
for that.
Again, the focus is often on the obstacles, but I believe we can
find ways to overcome these challenges just in the two examples
you gave. Prior to March 2020, one might have said that
transitioning all classes online was inconceivable, but many schools
accomplished this feat swiftly.
So, Dr. Schwinn, what makes you so confident that it is, in fact,
possible to reopen schools safely in person this fall? What evidence
do you have to support your decision?
Ms. SCHWINN. I appreciate that question, and I think it is a great
opportunity to talk about how adults can support children.
So, in the State of Tennessee, our State legislature, our Gov-
ernor—and we have a history of Governors who have committed to
education in the State. We have not reduced State funding to pub-
lic schools in the State of Tennessee. Governor Lee has allocated
millions of dollars for technology, safety equipment, resources,
health and sanitation equipment for schools.
All of that is so that our schools can reopen, because we under-
stand how important it is for our families and for our children. We
also know how important it is for our staff, teachers as well as sup-
port staff and district staff. We are getting them what they need
so that they can do the really hard work about educating our stu-
dents. And we know that has got to be the priority.
Mrs. FOXX. Thank you again.
Dr. Schwinn, much has been learned over the past several
months about the coronavirus and its consequences for education.
In addition to the research that provides new insights into the risk
of COVID–19, particularly to young people, there is also more in-
formation available about the effectiveness of education in a remote
69
environment. How does this information and research inform your
plans for safely reopening schools this fall?
Ms. SCHWINN. Sure. And as a mom of two children who is doing
the same balance as many families, understanding how difficult it
is to both do your job and then certainly to support learning at
home, and I think we have heard that from parents across the
country.
Look, our teachers have been working incredibly hard, our prin-
cipals and our superintendents have been working incredibly hard
to do what they could in a remote environment, but nothing re-
places the relationship and quality of instruction that happens be-
tween a teacher and his or her children in the classroom. We know
that is where this really wonderful learning takes place.
And so our efforts and supports have been certainly to provide
remote options for those staff and students who need them, but
knowing that the most high-quality education happens in the class-
room for students at all levels but particularly those who are most
vulnerable and in our youngest grades.
Mrs. FOXX. Well, again, thank you. Thank you for what Ten-
nessee is doing. Thank you for your leadership.
I am so incredibly impressed to hear your emphasis on the stu-
dents. I believe that, in many cases, that is being lost in this dis-
cussion about not reopening schools, and that is, what are the
needs of the individual students? My colleagues on the other side
of the aisle continually talk about the need for the personal ap-
proach to all students. We need to keep that in mind in all the de-
cisions we make.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much, Ms. Foxx.
I now recognize Ms. Schrier for five minutes, please.
Ms. SCHRIER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you to all of our witnesses. I very much appreciate
this testimony.
And I want to tell you that I am speaking from the standpoint
of being a pediatrician, so there is no question that I have the stu-
dents’ best interests in mind. I am also speaking to you as a parent
with type 1 diabetes, and so I have the interests of other parents
with preexisting conditions or grandparents at home in mind. And
I am speaking to you as the daughter of a teacher. So I am looking
at all of these things.
And I would just remind my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle that you can’t open schools without adults and also that kids
don’t live in a vacuum. We do know that kids are better served in
school. I experienced remote education with my son, and, frankly,
it was pretty lousy. And so we all want our children back in school.
We know it is better for them academically, socially—we know kids
who need nutrition and childcare through schools need to be there.
But we also know that other countries wisely have not opened
while rates are surging, because that essentially dooms this process
to failure. We also know now that kids 10 and up seem to spread
this just as readily as adults, putting families in danger. And so,
while we know that children are less affected and tend to remain
either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, they don’t live in a
vacuum.
70
And what this seems to come down to for me is really the level
of community spread. Because if there are high levels in the com-
munity, there will be high levels in the school, and you will end
up closing and quarantining an awful lot.
And so my first question is for Dr. O’Leary, which is just: Is
there a number, either developed by States or, gosh, it would be
really nice to have a national number, that just says, hey, if levels
are below some number, 1 in 100,000, 1 in 10,000, then it is consid-
ered a safe incidence or safe prevalence to open our schools? Or is
that based on the R0?
And, as you are answering that question, would it be helpful to
have that information from the CDC, since different communities
have different levels of disease and different R0s?
Dr. O’LEARY. Thank you for that question, Representative
Schrier. Can you hear me okay?
Ms. SCHRIER. Yes.
Dr. O’LEARY. So the R0, the reproductive number, is one measure
that a lot of folks are using to help make these determinations. It
is an incredibly complicated calculus. Each—it is done at the local
level, the State level, and States are tracking their numbers dif-
ferently, in different ways. They have different benchmarks for how
they are making these decisions, and they are complicated.
So, again, R0 is one number, but other numbers include, as you
point out, the incidence of disease, the rate of rise of the disease,
the percentage of positive tests, the number of hospitalizations in
a community. There are quite a few metrics that people are using.
I know CDC is also working on, you know, what are the best
ways to make these decisions, but it is really a complicated discus-
sion between CDC, local, and State public health, as well as the
schools and the educators, because, again, it is very contextual.
Ms. SCHRIER. Thank you. It seems to me it would be helpful to
have that number. And it is nice to hear that the CDC is working
on it, to have that. Because I think it would inform the administra-
tion, as well, that we know that different communities, different
school districts are in different situations, and just to blanketly say
all schools should open is just irresponsible. And so that kind of
data would be very helpful.
My next question is for Dr. Hinojosa, which is about remote
learning. And, like I said, our experience with that was very sub-
standard. Are there other methods, perhaps through TV, anything
else that could bridge the digital divide? Because we just can’t get
broadband to every child, and they can’t do their homework in a
car.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yeah, I do want to acknowledge public broad-
casting systems in many cities, including L.A. and Dallas and other
places, where they have a contract, a contract agreement with us
where we actually provide some television opportunities for teach-
ers, for students and families.
But we also need to do better on learning at home 2.O. Number
1.0, we just put things together. Right now, we are training our
teachers on the tools and the content, and both of those are very
important. That is why buying a little bit more time will help us
do a better job to have quality instruction.
So thank you for the question, Representative.
71
Ms. SCHRIER. And are there some super-smart teachers out there
who are really good with online instruction who could basically
spoonfeed this to all the school districts out there so each teacher
isn’t inventing the wheel on their own?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yeah, we are actually studying that right now.
We have a differentiation of our most effective teachers, and now
we want to know which ones are most effective in this context. And
so we are trying to do that assessment ourselves.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Ms. Schrier.
Ms. SCHRIER. Thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much.
Mr. Thompson, you have five minutes.
Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Appreciate it.
Thank you to all members of the panel on this very timely and
incredibly important discussion.
Dr. Schwinn, you know, I—first of all, I just want to say thank
you publicly to all the life-essential employees that are out there.
That is kind of a term that has taken on a new meaning in this
pandemic. But thank you to the folks who show up to work each
and every day, of different ages and diversity, in grocery stores,
convenience stores, manufacturing, making the personal protective
equipment, the other things that we deem as being needed, our
first responders, our healthcare providers.
And so—I want to see, do you think that teachers fall into that
category as life-essential? And, I guess, why or why not?
Ms. SCHWINN. Thank you for that question.
And I come proudly from a family of teachers, many of whom are
starting school this year. And so, when I think about what is criti-
cally important to the foundation of our country, public schools are
part of that. It is the fabric of who we are and how we educate our
children.
And so, certainly, when we think about the impacts of children
going to school and being able to live whatever lives they choose,
when we think about how families rely on schools, and certainly
when we think about opening up our economy so that families can
get back to work, we need to be able to provide those options to
all of our parents, whether they choose to educate their children re-
motely or choose to send their kids to school, that option is avail-
able. And so I think it is critically important we provide those.
Mr. THOMPSON. Yeah, no, I would agree. I am a big fan of teach-
ers. I think they are life-essential. It is the immediate, inter-
mediate, and long-term educational benefits, the mandatory re-
porter role. A lot of these kids are sheltering at home with distance
learning with their abusers, unfortunately. It is being able to get
access to the nutrition that they need.
So I would encourage—I think our school districts need flexi-
bility. And the CDC guidelines specify that and talk about
cohorting, talk about different suggestions, just guidance. As a re-
covering school board member, I found that very helpful and mean-
ingful, as I read and digested that. And I think they need the flexi-
bility to be able to perform their function as life-essential employ-
ees.
I am really appreciative of the things I have heard about stu-
dents with disabilities. I think that those students in particular are
72
very vulnerable, and it is very, very difficult, and we need to figure
out a better hybrid. Distance learning just I don’t think is working
for those students, and they are really at risk.
You know, a student that I haven’t heard talked about but I
am—obviously, the chairman knows I am pretty passionate about
career and technical education. Career and technical education is
actually preparing our future life-essential employees. The people
that I named off here are kind of career and technical education
fields.
And, really, our school districts need to take a look at keeping
that in mind, because those are hands-on. And when these kids
graduate, they are going to be life-essential employees during the
next pandemic. Unfortunately, these things travel at the speed of
jet airplanes, in hours and days, not months and years anymore.
And so to cheat, really to short them in their education so that they
are not prepared with the skills to be able to go into the workforce
to be there to provide for us in the future.
So any thoughts in terms of how we could do a better job for
those students that are in career and technical education tracks?
Ms. SCHWINN. I appreciate the question, especially in this room.
And we have our CTE Week this week, actually. And so I think
about Gibson County; I think about Kingsport city; I think about
Clarksville, Montgomery. These are districts in Tennessee who are
tackling those problems.
And one of the things that has come from our superintendent is,
how can the State fund curriculum that can be used whether the
student is in school or in a remote environment and going back and
forth? Because we know classrooms may need to close throughout
the year. So the State is looking to invest in those types of remote-
to-classroom opportunities for students.
And we are partnering—and, again, cross-agency support is crit-
ical—partnering with other State agencies, working closely to-
gether, under Governor Lee’s administration, so that our workforce
development group can support our schools to still provide those
opportunities.
Mr. THOMPSON. Yeah. And within months, hopefully, or hopefully
maybe weeks after these students graduate from these career and
technical education programs, some of them will be going to work
still in the middle of this pandemic. So we need to figure out how
we do in classroom, whether it is—whatever the skills are, what-
ever that area, so they can do that safely as a future life-essential
employee.
So I would argue that, you know, distance learning and modules
that are—you know, they need to be in those settings, because they
are going to be working in those settings. And education is a lot
more than probably just a diploma; it is about, really, preparation
to work and survive and succeed in the world that we live in.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you.
Mr. THOMPSON. Chairman, thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Mr. Thompson.
Without losing her place on the question list, I will pass on Ms.
Shalala at this time and recognize Mrs. Davis for five minutes.
Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
73
And thank you to all of you who are present with us but also
very active in this discussion. We appreciate that greatly.
I wanted to turn to Dr. O’Leary, because, Dr. O’Leary, I know
that your testimony suggests that schools that are forced to delay
in-person openings need more resources, not less. And yet the pro-
posals that we are hearing seem to suggest that, if schools are not
able to be do that because there is a fire raging in their commu-
nity, the virus, that they should be not given any resources in
order to fund them.
So, Dr. O’Leary, what do you think about that proposal?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. Thank you for that question.
I think, just to put it in context, you know, imagine a community
where there is a lot of virus circulating and you have, you know,
lots of different people getting infected. It is inevitable that the
virus—oh.
Sorry. I think I might have a bandwidth issue.
But it is inevitable that the virus is going to get into the schools,
and the schools are going to have to shut down. It doesn’t make
sense where there is widespread community circulation to open
schools, no matter how many mitigation measures are in place, to
withhold funding from those districts because they can’t open. They
really can’t open in that circumstance, and those decisions need to
be made with local and State public health.
Mrs. DAVIS. Uh-huh. Thank you.
One of the issues that has been raised—and I know, Dr.
Schwinn, you probably relate to this as well—is you need to have
the connectivity for students to be able to even have a fighting
chance to be able to not keep continuing to fall back. And we know
for all children that they did.
You were not willing to really answer my colleague’s question
about whether schools need more resources. But, I mean, if you
were asked, along with other education commissioners throughout
the country, if you wanted more resources, if you felt it would help
the children in your State, what would you say? Would you say,
‘‘No, don’t worry, I am okay, I don’t need anything’’?
Ms. SCHWINN. I would say, absolutely, we want more resources
to open schools. What I don’t want to say is that we will make deci-
sions for 147 very unique districts and counties simply by waiting
for the federal government.
Tennessee will protect our own, and we will certainly allow our
superintendents to make decisions that are right for their own com-
munities. But, certainly, we welcome and need additional resources
to do so with complete safety in mind.
Mrs. DAVIS. Yeah.
Dr. Hinojosa, could you respond as well, as the Dallas super-
intendent? Because I know that you certainly are in a position, as
the superintendent, to see that the city of Dallas itself has lost,
what, nearly $33 million in tax revenue in 2020. And that impacts
the schools; am I correct?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, absolutely. Well, it impacts us significantly.
Sales taxes are down in the State of Texas. All revenues are down
in the State of Texas. So we are going to hit this big wall, and if
we don’t have the resources—but, more importantly, back to your
original question about Operation Connectivity, we have even
74
asked the FCC to relax some of their requirements so that we could
use some of the resources at the FCC so we could actually use
them to knock down the front door and have families access
connectivity.
So, yes, we definitely need additional resources. And if you think
about high-poverty States with Title I and special ed dollars, IDEA
dollars, those are well within the federal government’s purview,
and those would be extremely welcome during this time. And we
know that—
Mrs. DAVIS. Would you like to see—I guess Dr. Hinojosa, would
like to see Congress then address that issue?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, I would love to see Congress address that
issue. You have already done it in the House. We would like for
the Senate to consider it. Thank you for the CARES Act, but we
also think that the HEROES Act has the potential to significantly
help districts throughout the country.
Mrs. DAVIS. Uh-huh.
And I want to go back to Dr. O’Leary for a second. Because one
of issues that has been raised is that school districts have to de-
velop protocols in order to deal with the ‘‘if’’s. You know, what if,
one day, you know, right after school is open, you have several
teachers that come down with COVID? What if you find that, in
a classroom, children have symptoms?
Are there protocols out there that the pediatric association is
dealing with, is trying to suggest to schools? Do you think that
what the CDC has done has helped people with those specific kind
of protocols? Because that could be really a very dangerous situa-
tion.
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. Those protocols are being actively worked on,
including from members of the Academy, the CDC is working on
this, State and local health departments. Absolutely.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you.
Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Mrs. Davis.
I would now recognize the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr.
Grothman, for five minutes.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Thank you. I am glad to be here and will give
Dr. Schwinn some questions.
It seems to be little doubt that children spread COVID–19 less
rapidly than adults. Is that so?
Ms. SCHWINN. According to our department of health in Ten-
nessee, yes.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Can you expand on some of that claims and ex-
plain why those aspects need to be looked at when determining
whether or not we send kids back to school, the effect of that?
Ms. SCHWINN. Sure. I think, you know, again, pointing to the ex-
ceptional leaders that we have in Tennessee who are responsible
for our school districts, there are a lot of conversations about
prioritizing our younger students. Our superintendents are being
incredibly creative about that, because we know that the spread of
the virus is less in our younger students, and so trying to think
about different options that allow for us to bring especially that age
group back into school and spread out, social distancing, et cetera.
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So that is a priority in Tennessee, and we have seen that reflected
in our schools.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Sometimes I think that our whole bureaucracy,
in dealing with this thing, doesn’t look outside the United States
enough. And at least the papers in front of me claim that countries
like Switzerland and the Netherlands are saying that children play
even a minor role in spreading the virus. Have you heard that? Do
you think Switzerland and the Netherlands are right in that or
not?
Ms. SCHWINN. You know, I don’t think I would be able to speak
specifically on any kind of health conditions or studies that have
been done there.
But I do know that, when we are looking at the best practices
from other countries, what we are seeing is that there are solutions
we can put into place in our schools that protect students and staff
and allows children to continue to be educated in person, as long
as we provide them with the resources necessary to do so safely.
And that is what we have been focusing on.
Mr. GROTHMAN. One suggestion in Wisconsin, apparently, since
you proposed guidelines, we have a 4-day week and a fifth day for
cleaning, put kids on a 2-day rotation. Have you heard about that,
and could you kind of comment on that?
Ms. SCHWINN. Sure, we have a similar—so we have a district
who is looking at similar options around bringing students in on
A days, B days, and allowing for alternative classrooms or alter-
nate classrooms to be cleaned on those on and off days. Frankly,
we will be doing the same thing at the Department of Education
with our desks in our own office space.
So we are looking at that. We are also seeing districts who are
bringing in younger students, K through 8, across all of their
schools and having high schoolers do more remote A day/B day. So
we are seeing that same alternate scheduling to allow for dis-
infecting procedures to take place.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Okay.
You are kind of following what is going on nationwide.
Ms. SCHWINN. Uh-huh.
Mr. GROTHMAN. In Wisconsin so far, at least whenever whoever
put this together put it together, nobody under age 20 has died of
the COVID. Is that true nationwide, or is it restricted to people
dying with serious health problems? But could you kind of elabo-
rate on the level of sickness for people under 20?
Ms. SCHWINN. You know, I can certainly speak in generalities. I
would probably defer to a health professional related to that data.
I do know, when we are thinking about risk factors, we are mak-
ing sure that, depending on the age range and certainly—and that
goes from students all the way to staff—that they have what they
need, including personal protective equipment, to keep themselves
safe.
And, certainly, I have relatives in Wisconsin, and so it is special
and near and dear to my heart to make sure that they are safe in
schools in that State as well.
Mr. GROTHMAN. We will get their name later, and I will look out
for them. But we will do that after the hearing.
76
Some of my colleagues and national pundits have said that put-
ting kids to school, it is—if you let the kids in school, you are put-
ting their health at risk. Nobody I know talks about reopening
schools without making sure the kids are not at risk.
But do you think the conversation should really be about reopen-
ing schools safely and how it will benefit children?
Ms. SCHWINN. I do, especially because—you know, I was talking
with the superintendent yesterday morning in Pickett County. She
has very few cases in her county. Her district wants to open up in
person. That is certainly very different than metro Nashville or
Shelby County, where Memphis is, that has a different population
and skyrocketing cases. Local communities need to make local
choices, but the conversation needs to be how we do so safely.
Mr. GROTHMAN. I will give you another question. I am not sure
this exactly applies to schools, but last week, when I was home, I
looked at one of what used to be the called the sheltered work-
shop—in other words, people who are used to be called handi-
capped working there. And I have a special interest in people like
that.
We had a shutdown in Wisconsin, like a lot of States, so these
folks couldn’t come in and work for, like, 3 months. And when they
came back, the staff could really tell psychologically it was dam-
aging to them, not having the school to go to, because I think par-
ticularly for folks in that situation the workplace is their social set-
ting as well.
Could you comment on any special concerns we would have or
special damage that would happen if you have people with special
needs who are not able to go to school and see their peer group?
Is it especially damaging to people like that?
Ms. SCHWINN. I have a strong concern especially when we think
about our vulnerable populations, inclusive of our children with
disabilities. The Department of Education put forward a $5 million
compensatory services grant and a $1 million assistive technology
grant. It is not enough to serve children in a remote setting. That
is why we know that we need to bring certain students in to pro-
vide that in-person instruction. It is incredibly important to them
and their health.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Dr. Schwinn. Thank you very
much.
At this time, I would like to recognize Ms. Shalala for five min-
utes, please.
Ms. Shalala, are you on remotely?
All right. We will move on.
Ms. Wilson of Florida? Ms. Wilson?
All right.
Mr. DeSaulnier of California? Sir?
I will move on.
Mr. Morelle of New York?
Okay. He is on the floor. So let’s try—
Mr. MORELLE. No, I am here. Mr. Morelle. I am sorry. I was
searching for my ‘‘mute’’ button.
Chairman SABLAN. Oh, Mr. Morelle. Hi. Good morning. You have
five minutes, sir. Thank you.
77
Mr. MORELLE. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you
for holding, I think, one of most important, one of the most impor-
tant hearings that you could hold.
Obviously, as we look towards the fall, this is the time of year
when students and teachers and parents are happily preparing for
the return to school—teachers refreshing curriculum, setting up
classrooms, getting ready to welcome their students; parents and
children gathering school supplies, reviewing schedules and getting
excited about the first day of a new school year.
But, obviously, nothing, to put it—suggesting that is a major un-
derstatement—nothing is normal about this year. Principals and
teachers are stressed about providing a safe environment for their
students with limited resources. Parents worry whether their child
will be exposed to the virus in the classroom, as well as how to bal-
ance work and daycare if you are in a district where schools are
going to provide education remotely through distance learning.
So I think we can all agree we want students back in the class-
room, but only under safe conditions, and that rushing to do this
is terribly inappropriate. So we need to safely open schools and fol-
low clear public health guidelines. I think that is what Dr. Fauci
has said repeatedly about that.
And I think if the administration was serious about getting stu-
dents back in the classrooms, we need fewer tweets and more
meaningful action and resources devoted towards schools to help
them get to the point where they can reopen. And rather than
blocking the CDC from testifying before the House for fear of what
they will say, let’s see a commitment to sharing data and providing
clear guidance for industries that repeatedly are calling for assist-
ance. And let’s put the political agenda aside and utilize the De-
fense Production Act to ramp up testing immediately and dem-
onstrate leadership the American people so greatly deserved.
I am proud of this body, that we have showed this country we
are serious about providing support. I know colleagues have said
it is not sustainable, but there is nothing that we want to sustain
about this situation. We need to act. This is, as I often say, people
talk about, ‘‘Well, you should only do that in case of a really rainy
day.’’ Well, this isn’t a rainy day; this a torrential downpour, and
we need to do everything we can.
That is why I think the HEROES Act was so important. It pro-
vided $200 billion in funding for K through 12 schools. And waiting
for action by our colleagues has been incredibly frustrating, espe-
cially when so much is at stake. I think we are on the right side
of history, and we are gathered here today to continue the impor-
tant conversations.
I think the President and Secretary DeVos have publicly come
out and demanded schools reopen full-time in person. I think that
is wrongheaded. CDC guidance, which categorizes full-size, in-per-
son classes and activities to be the highest risk of transformation
and transmission of the disease.
So, with that, I wanted to ask Dr. O’Leary—and I partly wanted
to ask as a follow follow-up to the conversation my colleague Mrs.
Hayes asked about testing.
But, first of all, someone said that transmission of the virus
among children, obviously even those who are asymptomatic, could
78
put teachers and adults in the building at risk, and I want you to
talk about that.
And, also, could you just comment—I thought I heard someone
say that the transmission was less among children. Could you talk
about the science of that and whether or not that is actually true?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. Thank you for that question.
So we are learning more every day about this issue. At this
point, it appears that younger children appear to be less likely to
get infected and less likely to spread it. But that by no means,
means that they can’t get it and they can’t spread it and that some
don’t get sick.
So, yes, they are at lower risk; yes, they can get it and can
spread it.
Mr. MORELLE. So, just for clarification, the reason it is harder for
them to spread is because they are less likely to get it in the first
place? Or is there something, even for those children who have the
virus, who contracted it, it is harder for them to transmit? So those
are kind of two pieces, right?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. So it appears to be both. And we can talk an-
other time about why that is. But, yeah, younger kids appear to be
less likely to get it and less likely to spread it.
Mr. MORELLE. So I also wanted to go to the question of testing,
because you seemed to suggest that testing students was not a via-
ble option. But is that simply because you don’t think we have the
capacity or we haven’t demonstrated the capacity at the federal
government to ramp up testing and make it available? Or are there
other issues with testing students?
Because, clearly, if one tests positive, you would want to get
them out of the classroom and quarantine them at home, even if
they are asymptomatic but have contracted the virus.
Could you just comment on that?
Dr. O’LEARY. Let me be clear. I am talking about not testing
asymptomatic students. (inaudible) We don’t have that capacity in
the U.S. We do want to try and test the students who are sympto-
matic to the extent that is possible, but it really varies a lot across
the country.
Mr. MORELLE. But just to be clear—
Chairman SABLAN. Thank—
Mr. MORELLE. Oh, I am sorry. Has my time expired? Boy, that
was quick. I apologize. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Mr. Morelle.
At this time, I recognize Mr. Keller for five minutes, please.
Mr. KELLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I would like to
thank the chairman and the ranking member for holding this criti-
cally important hearing today on how our Nation can move forward
with safely reopening our schools.
Additionally, I would like to thank the witnesses for participating
today and for offering their valued perspective and expertise.
As a father of two and a proud grandfather, I am extremely con-
cerned about the long-term impacts that COVID–19 has had on
students as a result of being out of the classroom for months at a
time.
One example is, McKinsey & Company has projected that, when
all the impacts of COVID–19 are considered, students should fall
79
an average of 7 months behind academically. This is simply unac-
ceptable. We owe every generation of students a well-rounded edu-
cation that encompasses the educational, social, mental, and phys-
ical benefits that come with students attending school.
Additionally, I commend Congress for working together to pro-
vide schools with billions in dollars for relief. The Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund authorized under the
CARES Act provided $13.2 billion in formula funding directly to
States and school districts to help schools respond to COVID–19.
My home State, Pennsylvania, received almost $524 million for
local educational agencies to address the impact of COVID–19.
However, it is my understanding that not one State has spent
the entirety of their funding under the CARES Act.
Mr. KELLER. While the Pennsylvania General Assembly has ap-
propriated much of the money, there is still about $1.3 billion
unspent in the Pennsylvania treasury.
Across Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, districts are
approving reopening plans for the fall, working in conjunction with
local school boards, administrators, parents, and State officials.
One central Pennsylvania school district surveyed parents and
found that 60 percent of the respondents favored a return to in-per-
son schooling this fall.
I was thrilled to read this morning that the Williamsport Area
School District, located in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional
District[CR4], has outlined a thorough three-educational-phases
plan to reopen schools in the fall that include[s] a hybrid of in-per-
son learning and remote learning based on the level of trans-
mission risk.
Today I am eager to hear about how reminding CARES funding
can be utilized to safely open schools and learn more about the spe-
cific actions schools are taking to make sure students, teachers,
staff, and families can attend schools safely and in person this fall.
Dr. Schwinn, I look at schools, and when schools across the coun-
try closed in March, scientists and policymakers alike had limited
information as to the implications of the coronavirus and what they
were for children. Although there are still lingering questions re-
garding the novel coronavirus, one thing most scientists agree on
is that the risks to adolescents are extremely low. Thus, it appears
that you can open schools safely for students.
While you still need to look at how to protect the staff, doesn’t
this knowledge help make the decision to open schools a little bit
easier?
Ms. SCHWINN. Thank you for the question.
And I think that, bringing both of your, I think, really important
points together, when we look at our ESSER funds or our CARES
funds and how our districts are choosing to spend that on tech-
nology and certainly on safety and disinfecting equipment so that
we can open, we also know that there has to be a priority on pro-
viding every child with that opportunity.
I have spent my career supporting those students in the most
vulnerable populations, because education is such a critical vehicle
for them being able to support themselves for the rest of their lives.
And that is our focus in Tennessee.
80
So, certainly, we know that protecting our adults allows us to
open schools in a way that is safe and supportive of local commu-
nities, and that will continue to be our priority.
Mr. KELLER. Okay. Thank you.
And just to follow up, how is your agency working to make sure
school leaders and personnel as well as parents have the facts and
not invoking fear and rhetoric to help make decisions about school?
Ms. SCHWINN. Yeah. And that communication is always so chal-
lenging, I think, as you are well-noting.
So one of the things that we are doing is, we had an educator
survey. Twenty-five-thousand teachers in the State of Tennessee
took a survey through our partnership with Vanderbilt to be able
to know what it is that they were challenged by.
We are working closely with the Department of Health, and on
Friday we will release a number of parent-facing supports and re-
sources to communicate. One of those will be a family website, in
partnership with Trevecca, to be able to communicate directly to
parents about what the information is and what their choices are
that they can make for their own children.
Mr. KELLER. Okay. Thank you.
I just have a question for Dr. O’Leary.
There was a question about how kids transmit the coronavirus,
and you just got done talking to one of my colleagues about that.
So we know that it transmits differently with adolescents, and kids
aren’t as at risk to transmit it. Is that true?
Dr. O’LEARY. There does appear to be a difference between
younger children and older children. But, again—
Mr. KELLER. How does it transmit differently than the flu? Or
is it similar to that?
Dr. O’LEARY. Well, it is different. Children are clearly drivers of
influenza epidemics. That seems to be less the case with this.
Chairman SABLAN. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Keller.
Mr. KELLER. Thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. And now I would like to recognize Ms.
Shalala for five minutes.
Ms. Shalala, are you on remotely?
Okay. She is on the floor.
The Chairman of the full committee, Mr. Scott, you are on, sir.
You have five minutes.
Mr. SCOTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You know, we have heard comments about the desirability of
opening schools. Of course that is how you get better academic
achievement, socializing skills, access to nutrition, prevent child
abuse, and you are not going to reopen the economy without re-
opening the schools. So of course we want to reopen the schools if
it can be done safely.
And so, Dr. O’Leary, let me ask you about a question about ven-
tilation. Four in 10 school districts, it has been found, need to up-
date or replace HVAC systems—heating, ventilation, and air condi-
tioning systems—in at least half of their schools. Why is ventilation
so important?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. I don’t want to pretend to be an environ-
mental engineer, but it does appear that ventilation matters with
the spread of this particular virus. You know, for example, we
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know that, the virus transmits much less in outdoor environments
than indoor environments. And so having circulation within class-
rooms is important.
But that is another one of the reasons that schools need re-
sources, to address ventilation. You know, that is one example of
many of the reasons schools need resources in trying to reopen.
Mr. SCOTT. Thank you. In the Moving Forward Act, the school,
the infrastructure bill, we have significant funding for school con-
struction that could take care of that.
And, Dr. O’Leary, if we are not going to test all the students on
day one to know who is infected and who isn’t, you have to assume
that, students coming from the community all into one place, some-
body is going to be infected.
What is the plan to deal with a student who is beginning to show
symptoms? What should be the protocol at that point?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. I think that speaks to the issue of why we
need to act across the U.S. right now to drive infections down as
much as possible with wearing face coverings, physical distancing,
et cetera. Because if we can drive infections down as a country,
then that issue is going to become much, much less of a problem.
But in terms of the actual—
Mr. SCOTT. Well, statistically, there will be children who will be
present in school and show symptoms that they are infected. After
they show symptoms, that means they have been in school for all
those days asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, spreading the dis-
ease around. What should be the protocol when you find someone
who is symptomatic?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. So those protocols are being developed right
now at the, you know, federal, State, district, and even school lev-
els. I mean, we could talk for an hour about the details of those
protocols, but basically what they are trying to do is screen stu-
dents to identify who might be ill, and strong encouragement for
parents to keep their kids home when they have any symptoms, in-
cluding fever or runny nose, et cetera.
There are screening protocols that are being put in place, such
as having an app or some kind of a system that parents can screen
prior to sending their child to school. There are difficulties in try-
ing to do that at school. For example, having children line up to
get their temperature taken, that could present more problems
than it solves.
So these issues are being worked out right now. And, again, it
comes down to the level of the individual school for how that may
be done.
Mr. SCOTT. Well, if you wait for the symptoms to occur, it is too
late. If someone has been found to be positive, do you shut the
school down?
Dr. O’LEARY. Well, the various plans that are coming into shape
usually involve cohorting students so that, if there is a student
identified as having been infected by COVID–19, it is only the peo-
ple that they are in close contact with. And then it also depends
on the number of students that are infected, et cetera.
So it is not as simple as saying, if you get one case in a school,
you shut the school down.
Mr. SCOTT. Okay. Should we have nurses in the school?
82
Dr. O’LEARY. I am sorry, could you repeat the question?
Mr. SCOTT. Should we have nurses in every school?
Dr. O’LEARY. I would love to have a full-time school nurse in
every school. School nurses have been shown to improve health
outcomes across the board. Being in schools, unfortunately, is not
currently the reality in the U.S.
Mr. SCOTT. Thank you.
I think by the time I get my next question in, my time will ex-
pire. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. All right. Thank you, Chairman Scott.
Mr. Van Drew?
All right.
Mr. Walberg?
I will go to Dr. Murphy. Dr. Murphy, you have five minutes.
Your mic.
Mr. MURPHY. There we go. Technology is wonderful. Thank you.
My first question is for Dr. O’Leary, actually.
You know, I was reading a couple journal articles last evening.
We talked about immunity, antibody immunity and cellular immu-
nity. It was interesting to point out that a lot of studies now are
talking about antibody immunity waning after several months and
that T-cell immunity is going to be really what is going to get hold
of this.
And I was wondering if you could speak to—and this looks why
that children are by all means relatively spared from this, com-
pared to adults, just because of their thymus gland and everything
as we burn out as we get older. I was wondering if you could speak
to that a little bit.
You know, our kids are obviously our biggest concern, and put-
ting them behind in their education is why we are all here, to try
to prevent that. But I think—I would really like to know what you
truly believe is the relative risk of our children. In the State of
North Carolina, we have had 3 fatalities in kids under 24, all with
comorbid diseases.
And let’s give a real, true picture for what the true risk is for
our kids under age 18 as we move forward. Give me the R0. Give
me the things that you truly believe, are our kids at risk. And, you
know, not just a hypothetical. I would really, truly like to look at
what we have learned so far from, you know, Korea, the
GermanGerman studies, and all these things. What are we truly
looking at for the risk of our kids as we go back to school?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. So you have asked several complicated ques-
tions there. I will do my best—
Mr. MURPHY. Yeah, just—I will tell you what, forget the T-cell
immunity one. That is pretty heady there. Let’s just talk about the
true relative risk for our kids.
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. So, again, learning every day, but what we
have seen so far in the U.S. is that kids are less—well, sorry,
around the world, kids do appear to be less impacted from COVID–
19 than adults. That is fairly clear.
In terms of the actual numbers, I think we are still trying to get
a handle on that, because we don’t have a good sense of the denom-
inator of children that are infected. We also—you know, the under-
standing of the biology of the virus is still really rapidly evolving.
83
There have been some studies suggesting that the overall risk for
mortality is less than—for children, I should say—is less than sev-
eral other things that we commonly accept on a daily basis in soci-
ety, such as trauma, influenza, things that sort of happen all the
time. But, again, that is not to say—
Mr. MURPHY. Yeah. So I am sorry to interrupt. I just want to get
one other question in.
Just from what I was reading last night, the relative risk, as it
is calculated—to the best to my calculations, is 0.011 percent. That
is 1 in 10,000. So, if you look at the number of kids who die every
year from flu—from flu—in the United States, it is going to seem-
ingly be a fairly comparable number, and we don’t shut down our
schools every year.
And so, I mean, I just want to take the fear factor out of this.
I just want us to deal with the nonpolitics, with the true part of
this, that we can put our kids back to school safely. And we need
to stop the fear mongering. We need to get our kids back on track.
So, anyway, thank you.
And in that same line, this question is for Dr. Schwinn. You
know, I had a great telephone townhall across the school adminis-
trators from our district this morning. They are all concerned about
all the details, which we all are. I was wondering if you could
speak to liability.
I have actually put forth an Open Schools Responsibly Act that
basically holds our school institutions free from frivolous lawsuits
because of this, because it is just one less thing that they have to
worry about.
And I wonder if you could speak to that, Dr. Schwinn, briefly.
Ms. SCHWINN. Sure, I am happy to. And that is an ongoing con-
versation in Tennessee as well, and I know our legislature is look-
ing to pick that back up in August.
I think, when I talk with superintendents, one of the things
among the many concerns that they have is around how to ensure
they can make the best decisions possible for children and for their
staff, and I think liability is one of those concerns that is getting
into the conversation outside of the outcomes that we are driving
toward. So I think it is a worthwhile conversation and one that we
are incredibly grateful is happening at both the federal and the
State level.
Mr. MURPHY. Great. Thank you so much.
It looks like my time is just about out. I will yield back. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman SABLAN. Well, thank you, Dr. Murphy.
So I would now would like—Mr. Courtney?
Mr. COURTNEY. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Chairman SABLAN. All right. Five minutes, please.
Mr. COURTNEY. Yes. Thank you. So I appreciate you holding this
hearing, which is the question of the day, I think, for our country
in many different respects.
This morning, the Department of Labor reported 1.4 million new
unemployment filings, which actually is the first time in 3 months
that number has gone up, and just really, unfortunately, validates
what the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has been saying since
last May, which is that the CARES Act stimulus was inadequate
84
in terms of addressing a whole host of issues and that the country
needs more fiscal stimulus.
The most efficient way to do that, to accomplish that, is to pro-
vide more funding for State and local assistance, because that,
again, will circulate into the economy the quickest and will enable
us to solve the problem which we are trying to figure out here this
morning, which is how to safely reopen schools.
Again, I think it is clear, both sides can stipulate to the fact that
opening up schools is highly beneficial, and it is a goal we all
share. The question is, how do we do it safely?
A couple days ago, the Secretary of Education, in an interview,
actually made a comment, that we should open schools because
children are actually stoppers—and that was the term that she
used—of COVID–19, which, when asked by the press afterwards
what she meant by that, the Department of Education cited a
study in Saxony, Germany, which, again, echoed some of the com-
ments that we have had here this morning about the fact that
young kids, particularly smaller kids, are not—they don’t transmit
as much as older children or adults.
But the researchers, when they were interviewed after the Sec-
retary made her comment, you know, were careful to point out that
their results depict a situation with low infection rates after the
initial transmission peak is under control. ‘‘If you do have rising in-
fection rates, as in the U.S.’’—and this is a quote from the re-
searchers in Germany—‘‘putting people in close contact will obvi-
ously lead to transmission of respiratory viruses.’’
So the question I wanted to ask Dr. O’Leary is just—I mean, that
is sort of the issue we have to grapple with here. If there are parts
of the country where infection rates are going up in the population
at large, you know, the decision to reopen schools is a different one
than in other parts of the country where infection rates are low or
below the 1 percent positivity rate.
I mean, is that, you know, what the association of pediatricians—
is that sort of your take in terms of evaluating, you know, this deci-
sion?
Dr. O’LEARY. That is absolutely correct. It varies depending on
what is going on.
And I think, you know, there is a lot of discussion of other coun-
tries, but what is rarely mentioned is that the situation in all of
these other countries where they have attempted to reopen schools
is vastly different than what we are seeing in most parts of the
U.S.
And so, yes, it is important to draw lessons from what they are
doing in other countries, but we can’t simply say, ‘‘Oh, look. They
did it, and so we can too.’’ You really have to base it on the local
epidemiology.
Mr. COURTNEY. And, again, the researchers which the Depart-
ment was relying on, you know, made that precise point, which is
that, you know, you have to deal with the overall population of a
country or a region before you can, you know, sort of extrapolate
from that it is, you know, all clear in terms of reopening schools.
And, again, in Israel, they, again, had a very bad experience in
terms of school reopenings and the number of students who became
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infected as well as almost 700 staff members. And they had to
again really hunker down in terms of trying to respond to that.
So, again, The Washington Post did an analysis of the Sec-
retary’s statement. They again interviewed the researchers, as well
as other resources, and did their Pinocchio test, which gave the
Secretary four Pinocchio’s for her comments.
And, Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter that story into the
record.
Chairman SABLAN. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
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Mr. COURTNEY. And, again, the notion that we all want schools
to reopen, but let’s really get a shared baseline of science and not
cherry-pick in terms of studies that, again, I think, just create
more confusion and misunderstanding then really a shared base-
line in terms of how we solve this problem as a country.
And, with that, I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Mr. Courtney.
Ms. Bonamici?
Ms. BONAMICI. Thank—
Chairman SABLAN. Ms. Bonamici?
Ms. BONAMICI. Yes, I am here. Can you hear me?
Chairman SABLAN. Yes.
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Ms. BONAMICI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to all our wit-
nesses today.
This is an important conversation. I have had so many discus-
sions with parents, students, teachers, school counselors, psycholo-
gists about their struggles over the last several months with dis-
tance learning. And we know how important it is to reopen schools.
We know that. We also know that the decision to reopen has to be
based on science, and it has to make the health and safety of our
students and our teachers and our staff and families the top pri-
ority.
I just want to follow up on a question that one of my colleagues
made, the suggestion that the flu kills more students than COVID.
I did just read, 2 days ago there was a 9-month-old in Minnesota
who died of COVID.
But, Dr. O’Leary, can you respond to that, that the flu kills more
students than COVID in schools? Why is it different?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. I think—sorry, there is some background
noise. But I think that, yeah, influenza is potentially a severe ill-
ness in children, and we do see roughly 100 deaths every year in
the U.S. among children from influenza.
But I also want to point out, we are still learning every day
about COVID–19 and its impacts on children. And, you know, any
of us working in children’s hospitals have taken care of very sick
children. Unfortunately, many of us have worked with children
with COVID–19 who have died.
So to minimize the risk of COVID–19 I think is a mistake. We
need to put it in context.
Ms. BONAMICI. Absolutely.
Dr. O’LEARY. It is not that kids don’t get sick.
Ms. BONAMICI. Thank you. I appreciate that.
And I have been very concerned. We haven’t had a national
strategy to curb the virus. We have had rhetoric about forcing
schools to open, you know, their funding threatened, which is com-
pletely inappropriate. No school should be threatened into reopen-
ing before it is safe for them to do so. And it does vary by district,
and by—across the country.
So, when schools can safely reopen, they need our help. Our pub-
lic schools and districts, they need funding to make sure they can
equitably serve students and keep everybody in the school building
safe. And I know the HEROES Act does make a robust investment
of $58 billion in K-12 schools. I hope the Senate will pass that. We
need to make sure that our schools can open safely.
And, Dr. O’Leary, another question. The reopening guidance
from the American Academy of Pediatrics makes clear that schools
must anticipate and address a wide range of mental health needs
for both students and staff as they prepare to open.
So what mental health supports will students and staff need as
they return to school? And what does the Academy recommend to
prepare teachers to address the mental health needs of their stu-
dents?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah. That is a very important question.
So, you know, we already are vastly underfunded for mental
health support across the country. You know, there is a shortage
of mental health providers. Access is a real problem.
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And I think schools should be planning right now—I know a lot
of them already are—for how to handle that. They are working
within their own communities to work with behavioral health spe-
cialists, child psychologists, child psychiatrists, to meet the needs
of those students.
But it is a real problem. It is an ongoing problem that absolutely
did not start with the COVID–19 pandemic and, I think, absolutely
needs to be addressed.
Ms. BONAMICI. It has been exacerbated, of course.
Dr. Hinojosa, how have schools and districts meaningfully en-
gaged with families to learn about what went right and what went
wrong with distance learning? And how are school systems involv-
ing families in planning for the next school year to make sure that
reopening plans will incorporate their feedback?
Dr. Hinojosa?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, ma’am. Well, we have definitely surveyed our
parents. We communicate with them. We ask them to contact our
teachers directly to give us—and they have been pretty honest with
us about what worked and what didn’t work.
But I also want to elaborate that we have 57 mental health spe-
cialists that we are bringing back to our schools. Because when the
students do come back, they will need support, and our teachers
and counselors may not be ready to do that support. So that is a
big fiscal notenote on our local district, but we know it is impor-
tant, so we have hired 57 new mental health specialists in Dallas
ISD.
Ms. BONAMICI. Well, thank you so much.
And before I yield back, I just want to follow up on the concerns
raised by both Chairman Scott and Mr. Morelle about testing of
students. And with apologies to anyone who is eating lunch, I know
there has been very promising work done on wastewater testing as
an early warning system.
And I don’t know if, Dr. O’Leary, you are familiar with that, that
testing. But I think we need to look at all ways to make sure that
we are making sure that our school buildings are safe for our stu-
dents and—the adults who work in them, and for families. That is
just something to keep in mind.
Dr. O’Leary, are you aware of the work that is being done on
wastewater testing as early detection?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yes. That is one of many strategies to help the
global pandemic.
Ms. BONAMICI. Thank you. My time has expired. I yield back, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman SABLAN. Mr. Norcross, once?
All right. Ms. McBath?
Ms. Underwood, I can see you.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the
time today and your indulgence in allowing me to participate in
this committee’s proceeding.
Local school administrators in my district and across the country
are weighing incredibly difficult decisions. The educational needs of
students, the concerns of parents, and above all, the risk to the
health, and ultimately, the lives of students and staff. In my out-
reach to schools in my district, the number one concern I hear is
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funding. And I will continue to fight until the necessary funding we
need and that was passed by the House in the HEROES Act 2
months ago, reaches our schools that are so desperate, desperately
needing those resources.
I am so disappointed that we are not able to hear today from the
administration officials who are leading the public health response
to reopening schools. But I am very grateful to the witnesses who
are here, and, of course, to our educators across the country who
are working so hard to keep our kids safe and learning.
The decisions about what school will look like in the fall should
be guided by public health experts, and those experts must be al-
lowed to make recommendations based on the best data and
science, and not pressure from this administration.
Dr. O’Leary, as a pediatrician with health and development in
mind, what should CDC be relying on when developing guidance
for schools? And why is it important that schools have clear guid-
ance from public health experts?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah, thank you. I agree with everything you just
said. It does need to be in conjunction with local and State public
health. You know, CDC, you know, I work in various aspects with
a lot of folks at CDC, and they are working very hard right now
to help—working on this guidance and they are working with
health departments, local health departments, as well as physi-
cians, et cetera, trying to develop guidance.
And I think they also recognize, though, that it is—these deci-
sions are best made at the local level.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, at this time, I would like to ask
for unanimous consent to enter written testimony from Lori Combs,
she is the president of the National Association for School Nurses
into the record.
Chairman SABLAN. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
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Ms. UNDERWOOD. According to this testimony, less than 40 per-
cent of schools have a full-time nurse on staff, and a quarter of
schools have no nurse at all.
Dr. O’Leary, school nurses are critical in ensuring the health of
our kids in normal times, can you tell us more about why it is so
important to have a healthcare professional like a nurse on staff
for schools during a pandemic?
Dr. O’LEARY. Yeah, school nurses do an amazing job of improving
[the] health of students within the schools. Across the board, there
have been a number of studies showing the positive outcomes of
having a school nurse within the schools. And so, the—in the
schools where there is a full-time school nurse, in general, children
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have different health outcomes than where there is none. So I abso-
lutely support fully funding school nurses within our schools.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. And the school nurses connected in with that
local public health infrastructure, right? So if there is something
going in that school building, that school nurse can help flag and
bring the attention into that school building, help the students,
help the teachers, help the staff, help the families. I heard from
teachers in my district who are at higher risk for complications of
COVID–19 due to their age or health status. They want to be back
with their students but are deeply worried that this will put their
health at risk. One in three teachers in this country is over the age
of 50.
Dr. O’Leary, what precautions do we need to be considering to
protect the health of older or medically vulnerable teachers and
staff?
Dr. O’LEARY. I mean, first, let me say, I think—I as a physician,
you know, we choose to devote our careers to the lives of children.
Teachers are no different. They are devoting their careers. And so
I think we need to support our teachers. And right now, we need
to do everything we can to make sure that they are safe, to safely
return to school. And so I think funding to be able to help them
do that is going to be crucial to successfully reopen schools safely.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Yes, funding is particular for PPE, despite re-
peated calls from Congress to do so, this administration has not in-
voked the full power of the Defense Production Act to meet the
shortages of PPE. Shortages that will get worse if schools open.
In a Homeland Security Committee hearing that I participated
in yesterday, FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor said the adminis-
tration has no plans to invoke it to provide schools with face
masks. And so, we know that school districts are often very worried
about how they are going to pay for their PPE and other necessary
supplies for the entirety of the school year. We need to help relieve
them of that burden. The administration has all the authorities at
their disposal to do so. And, you know, we are going to continue
to call for the full implementation of that. Thank you again to our
witnesses for being here. And I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you.
Mr. Levin was here earlier.
All right. Ms. Stevens, you have five minutes.
Ms. STEVENS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for having me at this
hearing. And thank you to our witnesses. It has certainly been an
honor to hear the exchange back and forth, particularly as we move
closer to the start of the school year. And we are all looking for cer-
tainty.
And if we recall when this pandemic was declared by the World
Health Organization, they projected a year to a year and a half.
And so, here we are in sort of the middle of it and it is uncertain,
it is trying, and it is safe to say we all want it to be over. We all
want to get back. We want to get back to school safely.
I have been on the phone with my school administrators, our su-
perintendents, our educators, our parents around the clock since
the first timeschool was cancelled. It was supposed to be 2 weeks.
And it was the rest of the school year. We honored and we recog-
nize the class of 2020, these incredible seniors. And we look, to the
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classes that are coming up, and we look to those who are juniors
and sophomores and—had to interrupt their sports season won-
dering if they are going to get that letter, or students of all abilities
who need that IEP.
The White House, just the other day, said we are going to have
to learn to live with this. And I know we have been getting asked
some scientific questions here that are being asked of you that real-
ly shouldn’t be being asked of you to our incredible witnesses who
do have Ph.D.’s and great backgrounds. And we know you, like me,
like to listen to the scientists. Alright. We want the answers. We
are in the race for the information. But yet, the White House we
have got to learn to live with this.
It dawned on me, Mr. Chair, as we have been hearing today the
questions and answers about what has been asked of our educators
across this country, our public schools for so long. Can you accept
the unacceptable? Can you accept unfunded mandates? Can you ac-
cept the threat of gun violence in your schools?
I think it is fair to say that the American public is tired of ac-
cepting the unacceptable. And we are here today as a legislative
body, to legislate, to partner, to join forces with you.
I heard Mr. Keller talk about that the CARES Act funding in
Pennsylvania hasn’t all been utilized. In Michigan, we have uti-
lized our CARES Act funding, we struck a deal with our State cap-
ital for school funding for this year. But we are moving into fiscal
year 2021, and I just this morning before 9 a.m. was on with the
head of the Tri-County Alliance for Oakland County, Wayne Coun-
ty, and Macomb. And I said, okay, so we struck the deal. How are
you feeling? And I check in with him all the time. I call him before
I know he is really beginning his workday. And he said, yeah, we
have struck the deal, but we still have the $750-per-pupil budget
shortfall in Michigan.
We want to reopen safely. We want to get you to your goals. And
I want to hear what you need. Five minutes is not enough.
Dr. Hinojosa, I would love to hear from you for a minute about
what the primary concerns of our principals are and how we can
best serve you and meet your needs? Thank you, sir.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, well, our principals’ primary concern is how
do we manage the inevitable of having, making sure the teachers
have all of the tools that they need to deliver the best quality in-
struction for the students in a safe environment. And that is their
biggest concern. And they want to, we have missed our kids since
March, but unless we have a way to deliver that instruction safely,
that is probably their biggest concern, and it is going to take re-
sources to make that happen.
Ms. STEVENS. Resources. I applaud you for saying that. We rec-
ognize that. And we do also agree that we need flexibility. We need
to empower support and understand your needs. And we want to
continue this dialogue going forward. You are all heroes for coming
in today and participating in this hearing, answering our ques-
tions, and we look forward to supporting you going forward.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Ms. Stevens.
Mrs. Lee? Mrs. Lee?
Mrs. LEE. Hi, there. Sorry, I had to unmute.
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Chairman SABLAN. You have five minutes.
Mrs. LEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank all of
our witnesses today. You know, I sat here and I listened today
about the back and forth that if you want to open up schools safely,
clearly, you don’t value in-person learning. Let’s be clear, we totally
agree and honor and respect a need to have students in the class-
room learning one-on-one or with a teacher. That is the ultimate
goal. But we also need to do it in a way where we do not needlessly
risk lives.
You know, and Dr. Schwinn, I applaud your commitment to
opening schools. I find it a little odd that you are not acknowl-
edging the necessity of federal support to be able to do so. You
know, I represent the State of Nevada. We have seen a $1.2 billion
shortfall likely cutting over $156 million in K-12 funding. And so
we know that whatever option that we are looking at, and a lot of
them aren’t great options, that we need—that we will require addi-
tional resources. And, honestly, to me, it requires extensive testing.
And I want to point out that in Tennessee, you are one of nine
States that has doubled, more than doubled the testing needed that
has been estimated by three public health organizations that would
be needed to control your outbreak. And the fact that Tennessee
basically fronted the cost of this test so that anyone who wanted
it could get it within—Tennessee officials now acknowledge that
they are hoping and they are banking on the federal government
paying for those tests.
So to me, the lack of testing in this country is, number one, why
we have rampant unemployment, but number two, why we are
faced with this awful decision on how we reopen schools, whether
we treat our students and our teachers like guinea pigs, by rushing
to open our schools without proper resources, or we keep trying to
do remote learning, which we know does not do our families and
our students the justice that we deserve.
Dr. Hinojosa, I wanted to ask you, you know, you are in a predic-
ament quite like the one we are in Nevada where Dallas is facing
an issue of nearly $33 million in lost revenue, which is certainly
going to impact your schools. Can you tell Congress and tell us how
we can best address these revenue shortfalls, and how we can best
help you in your ability to reopen in the fall?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, for us to be open for our biggest ask right
now is to make sure that we have broadband connectivity and de-
vices that so we can connect with our families. And also, we do
have the PPE, so we are good on that kind of information, but we
need a lot more support going forward with how our special needs
students get supporting. And Title I is so critical to us, 92 percent
of our students are economically disadvantaged. And also, the big
funding that comes from the Department of Agriculture for feeding
our students. We feed all of our students two meals a day, and it
is just extremely important that those opportunities continue for
the long term. But also, the State took a lot our money through the
CARES Act to supplant the revenue we get. We understand why
they did it because they have significant shortfalls.
So they did that to shore up this year. But that is only this year.
Going forward, there is going to be huge deficits in State budgets.
96
And so, it is a domino effect that will put down every community
in the State of Texas if nothing is done about it.
Mrs. LEE. Have you estimated what you plan to receive from the
HEROES Act, and what is the delta, between what you would esti-
mate that you would be needing and what you actually think you
will need to open safely?
Mr. HINOJOSA. No, there is a lot of nuances because in the
CARES Act, we thought we were going to get $61 million, we actu-
ally got $31 million. But from the HEROES Act, we haven’t fully
analyzed that. And there are several other bills in front of Con-
gress that can help with us with connectivity. No evidence with
that analysis yet, but it would be significantly helpful for every-
body in Texas.
Mrs. LEE. Then, finally, I think we are running out of time here.
Can you just walk us through what you have gone through with
your local public health officials to talk about the public safety with
respect to your reopening plans?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Absolutely. We are in constant contact with our
local health officials about what they expect from us what we need
if we have everybody safe [inaudible] masks, buses, entryways, ev-
erything, everything we discussed has been considered with our
local health.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you.
Mrs. LEE. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. I now recognize Ms. Shalala, five minutes,
please.
Ms. SHALALA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I apologize. I had to
preside on the floor, so I just got back.
I would like to ask Dr. O’Leary a question. Dr. O’Leary, the Flor-
ida education commissioner Richard Corcoran recently issued an
emergency order that aligns with the Trump administration, re-
quiring all schools to reopen full-time for all 5 days of the week,
they are going to be mandated to meet a minimum number of in-
structional hours to students. This past Monday, Florida’s largest
teacher’s union filed a lawsuit seeking to block the return to in-per-
son classes because we have community spread in Florida. The
virus is, in fact, out of control. And we know without a safe envi-
ronment to learn and grow, children risk developmental delays.
In your view, what are the risks for students from increased ex-
posure with their peers, especially in a State like Florida which re-
mains a hotspot of the virus? Is it the right approach to have stu-
dents come to school every day of the week, and what alternatives
would you recommend?
Dr. O’LEARY. We are all on the same page. Thank you for that
question. We all in the same page to keep our kids in school, but
we have to do it safely. And where the virus is surging as it is cur-
rently in Florida, we have to be really cognizant of those issues.
And, you know, one, it is not safe. Students are going to get sick,
teachers are going to get sick, staff is going to get sick. So that is
number one.
Number two, it is not practical. If you open schools when the
virus circulating within the community, it is inevitable that it is
going to get into those schools, and you will just have to shut them
down immediately. And that is—we are all dealing with sort of
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whiplash from this whole thing. Imagine going—students going
into school and having to come back home the following week. And
that is what is going to happen if you open schools in a place where
the virus is widely circulating, it is inevitable.
Ms. SHALALA. Thank you. And if I might ask the superintendent
a question, just a quick question. About minority and low-income
students who clearly—and also disabled students, is there another
strategy, perhaps tutors, that we should focus on to make sure that
students who in underserved areas actually are able to keep up
with their work if we have to go online for the fall? If you have
the resources, what would you do in terms of helping those stu-
dents to catch up in addition to their classroom work?
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yes, we had to have some assessment that tell us
which students are the furthest behind and have the least contact.
What I worry about is a lot of these nonprofits that help us, like
reading partners and tutors, they are also not getting donations
from other people that help foundations that help support them be-
cause they are short on dollars.
So it is a double whammy on our partners that need to help us
with the wraparound services that our students need to have tutor-
ing and reinforcement. So I think an influx of resources would help,
not only us, but them to be able to provide the quality nonprofit
services that they help us to support and tutor our students. It
would be vitally important.
Ms. SHALALA. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you, Ms. Shalala.
At this time, Ms. McBath has agreed to let Ms. Wild—Ms. Wild,
you have five minutes.
Ms. WILD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to my col-
league, Ms. McBath, for her accommodation.
My question is for Ms. Leslie Boggs. Ms. Boggs, when my chil-
dren, who are now in their 20s, were in school, their dad and I pan-
icked whenever we had to accommodate a single snow or sick day
into our work schedule. So I have great sympathy for parents now
as they try to figure out how they are going to manage their sched-
ules, not to mention being worried about their children’s health.
And so many of the discussions we have been hearing around
school reopening have focused on the perspectives of the adminis-
trators, the teachers, and political leaders, quite frankly. I think it
is vital that we engage parents and families in the conversation on
how to best and most safely reopen the schools, because it is going
to affect parents and families just as much as it affects students
and school staff.
And based on the conversations I have had with the parents in
my district, there is a wide range of opinion about how schools
should operate this fall.
So my question to you as president of the National Parent Teach-
er Association is: Do you think parents and PTAs have been in-
cluded enough in the local and national conversations about ways
to safely reopen the schools? And could you just comment on the
benefits of incorporating the parents’ opinions and insight when
creating these school reopening plans?
Ms. BOGGS. Thank you for the question. It is interesting to see
across our Nation the effect when our parents and educators be-
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come true partners in our education system. I am hearing from
several States that parents have been meaningfully involved in the
conversations for reopening schools, but I have also heard that
there are some school districts that are not including parents in the
conversation and students.
So I think in order for us to be completely—am I not—can you
hear me?
Ms. WILD. We can hear you.
Ms. BOGGS. Okay. Something came up on mine that said I have
been muted. Whenever I see that parents are not included in the
conversation, that is when you were going to see schools struggle
with reopening, because they are not listening—to the critical
issues parents are concerned about. They do want to be back in
school. And we know that for sure. That they are concerned about
the safety and the reopening of those schools, and the ability for
them to do it appropriately.
So I think that is why you have to see that conversation be there.
I have seen districts, even my own district here in ECISD, this ad-
ministration does a Facebook live every week, takes questions from
parents, they have had town halls with parents to see what they
can do to help effectively reopening. The concern is if we don’t re-
open schools, again, is that homework gap, or learning gap. Be-
cause what you are seeing in districts that are low-income districts
is that they are really hurting more. And what we have seen is,
there is really populations that bear the burden, right? There are
37 percent of rural students and 21 percent of urban students lack
home internet access. 35 percent of Native American students, 30
percent of Black students, and 26 percent of Latino students have
inadequate internet access at home compared to only 18 percent of
white students.
We got a disparity that we have got to be worried about. When
children come back to school, they are going to be significantly
needier than they have ever been in the past. And this is probably
the biggest hurdle, I think, our education system will have to over-
come is really assessing those needs for each student. And they are
very different depending on where you are.
Ms. WILD. Well thank you for that very thoughtful answer, I’m.
I am a big believer that we need to be establishing commissions or
committees that consists of teachers, parents, other educators, phy-
sicians, both pediatricians in infectious disease, [and] we really
need to get the political officials out of the discussion and yield to
the sentiments of the people who are true stakeholders and who
really know what they are talking about when it comes to this. And
you are clearly one of them. So thank you so very much for your
responses. I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much. And now I recognize
Ms. McBath for five minutes, please.
Mrs. MCBATH. Thank you, Chairman Sablan, for holding this
hearing today, and thank you to all of our witnesses that have
taken the time to really enlighten us as to what is truly happening
with the public school system and our children.
I think we can all agree that the best place for our children to
truly be educated is within the classroom. I don’t think anyone
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here is denying that at all. But our current pandemic prevents us
from allowing that to happen safely.
And I will say this very briefly. I was a woman who chose to
home school her child [from] 4th through 8th grade. And I know
that is not something each and every family is able to do. But I
understand now that I think parents are feeling that they are in
a sense of home schooling, even with virtual schooling and that
added—that adds a lot of additional stresses because of the
COVID–19.
So after the last few weeks, I have actually had conversations
within my own district with my teachers and my school board
members. And we were trying to decipher, and I wanted to hear
from them what is the best pathway forward, going forward to re-
open our schools? These conversations, they confirmed my deepest
fears. I felt in my gut that there was trouble, that our teachers and
our superintendents were really troubled by how they were going
to best be able to appropriate funding and resources and tools to
make sure that our children have the global education that they
deserve.
And our teachers, what I found out, are basically afraid of infect-
ing their students with COVID–19, but also they are afraid that
their students might also inadvertently affect them, too.
They said to me that there was clearly a lack of uniform guide-
lines. And this is when I represent the 6th Congressional District
of Georgia, that there was a lack of clear guideline and guidance
from our administration as to how our students and our teachers
would be protected to return to the physical classroom.
So I know that we are here today because of that lack of leader-
ship. And if the administration had acted earlier to prevent the
spread of COVID–19, I really believe we would not be in this pre-
dicament at this time. In the House, we have passed the HEROES
Act. We actually passed that 2 months ago. And yet, we are still
waiting today, we are still waiting on the Senate to take action on
the HEROES Act. And the HEROES Act we know, truly, appro-
priates the funding and the resources and the tools to save lives.
In each of my meetings with my local school officials, they all ex-
press the need for more funding from Congress for PPE, and also,
school infrastructure and hiring more mental health professionals
in the school, because that is definitely lacking, and the mental
health of our students is very, very critical at this time.
The HEROES Act does provide for increased funding for mental
health services, and it also gives the resources necessary to stop
the spread of this very devastating disease.
Ms. Boggs, if you would please answer my question. You know,
you mentioned the results of the Virginia PTA parent survey in
your testimony, which I have read. As we all know, the pandemic
might be taking a toll, more specifically on the mental health of
many, many of our students. Did the responses align to those con-
cerns, the responses from that survey?
Ms. BOGGS. I would say yes, I think they align with the concerns
that you heard and saw within the report that we gave. Parents
are just overall concerned, but they want their children back in
school, but they do understand that likely we will see parents [in-
audible]. The concern that I have as leader of this association is en-
100
suring that everyone has options, and that parents are not putting
themselves in a no-win situation. So we know that distance learn-
ing is not the best option. If our schools aren’t safe, then we are
not giving them great options, are we? And I think that is where
I find your earlier comment on leadership during this crisis, lead-
ers will be defined by what happens during this crisis.
We have seen the House do the right thing. I think the Senate
needs to understand that leadership needs to happen, and our Na-
tion is waiting, and our parents are watching. So I hope this an-
swers your question.
Mrs. MCBATH. It does, thank you very much.
And Mr. Hinojosa, can you please discuss how the Dallas Inde-
pendent School District plan to reopen addresses the need of
marginalizes students, including students that have disabilities. I
am very concerned about that. And we know that those students,
those demographics of students are disproportionately impacted by
school closures.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Yeah, that is one of our biggest concerns. We have
a lot of robust plans for our traditional students. But our students
with special needs, by definition, have an individual plan that has
to be adjusted. And many of the parents are now carrying the bur-
den of doing that at home, when our trained professionals are the
ones that need to do it. So we also, though, need to be concerned
about their safety. Those teachers have to get very close in prox-
imity to the students in certain conditions. And so we are con-
cerned about that and we think we can make it happen.
Mrs. MCBATH. Thank you so much for your answer. I yield back
my time.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much.
At this time, I would like to remind my colleagues that pursuant
to committee practice materials for submission for the hearing
record must be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days
following the last day of the hearing. So by close of business on Au-
gust 6, 2020, and preferably in Microsoft Word format.
The material submitted must address that subject matter of the
hearing. Only a member of the subcommittee or an invited witness
may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record, and docu-
ments are limited to 50 pages each. Documents longer than 50
pages will be incorporated into the record via an internet link that
you must provide to Committee Clerk within the requested, re-
quired timeframe. But please recognize a year from now, the link
may no longer work.
Pursuant to House Resolution 965 and the accompanying regula-
tions, items for the record shall be submitted electronically by
emailing submissions to Edandlabor.hearings@mail.house.gov.
Member offices are encouraged to submit materials to the inbox be-
fore the hearing or during the hearing at the time the member
makes the request. The record will remain open for 14 days for
committee practice for additional submissions after the hearing.
Without objection, I would like to enter the following statements
into the record: a statement from Dr. Bobby Cruz, Director of In-
structional Technology, Commonwealth of the North Marianas Is-
lands Public School Records System; COVID–19 Planning Consid-
erations Guidance for School Re-Entry by the Academy of American
101
Pediatricians, a Plan to Safely Reopen America’s Schools and Com-
munities by the American Federation of Teachers; All Hands on
Deck Initial Guidance Regarding Reopening Schools by the NEA;
and Guiding Principles & Action Steps For Reopening Schools by
the AASA.
Chairman SABLAN. Witness questions for the hearing record, I
want to thank our witnesses for their participation today. Members
of the subcommittee may have some additional questions for you,
and we ask the witnesses to please respond to those questions in
writing. The hearing record will be held open for 14 days in order
to receive those responses. And I remind my colleagues that pursu-
ant to committee practice, witness questions for the hearing record
must be submitted for the majority committee staff or committee
clerk within 7 days. The questions submitted must address the
subject matter of the hearing.
I would now like to recognize the distinguished ranking member
for his closing statement.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank ev-
eryone for taking time today to provide testimony about this impor-
tant topic of safety, safely reopening our schools this fall. I want
to thank our—all of our witnesses for their input. And it is much
appreciated, Dr. Schwinn, a special thanks to you.
The coronavirus pandemic has tested our Nation’s public schools
in a way we have not seen in generations. We know that Ameri-
cans can turn this challenge into something positive for students
by further enhancing how we educate our students. Quite frankly,
we cannot fail a generation of school students. Children learn and
thrive in school. Students deserve the option to go back to school
with instruction, supports, services, and all of this provided in per-
son. And we all need to work together to focus on how to make it
happen safely. Likewise, teachers and staff deserve thoughtful
thorough planning that protects their health and safety while at
school.
We touched on so many reasons that the ability to safely return
to school is so important for our students and their families. These
students rely on schools for meals, the support of counselors, coach-
es, school nurses, and many other trusted adults that make up our
school community.
Families’ economic security has been negatively impacted by
COVID–19 related to school closures. We must remember that in
the best of cases, this spring, families were adapting to remote
learning in their homes and making due with virtual connections
to classmates and educators. But in many scenarios, families strug-
gle without critical resources for their children. Now more than
ever, we need to work together to help all children get the edu-
cation they need to thrive.
We have guidance from the CDC, the AAP, and other experts
outlining the considerations for returning to schools, and the steps
we need to take to do it safely. States like Tennessee and Georgia
are setting great examples of the resilience and fortitude it takes
to find solutions in the complex conditions we are facing today, and
will continue to do—continue to face this in the fall and in the fu-
ture.
102
No one takes the decision to reopen schools for students this fall
lightly. It is with great consideration, coupled with the determina-
tion to do what is best for our Nation’s students. Every student
should be afforded the option for high-quality instruction this fall.
I want to thank, again, our witnesses for bringing thoughtful tes-
timony before us today, and I look forward to working with my col-
leagues and educators to ensure our students are provided opportu-
nities to be successful this fall and beyond.
And, Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Chairman SABLAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Allen. I also want
to thank you, again, all the witnesses for joining us and providing
your expertise. I want to thank the Members also for taking part
in today’s hearing.
And today’s hearing confirmed that what family, school staff,
education leaders, and public health experts across the country
have been telling us for months, schools need immediate and sig-
nificant support to confront the unprecedented challenges of pro-
viding students with safe and high-quality education during this
pandemic.
President Trump and Secretary DeVos should heed that warning
and join Democrats in delivering the $200 billion in relief that we
have passed for school safely reopen for in-person instruction. But,
instead, this administration is leaving school districts to fend for
themselves, threatening to strip away without any legal authority
the very resources that schools need to ensure the safety of stu-
dents and school staff.
In short, this administration is abandoning the health needs of
our school communities at a time when the U.S. has surpassed 4
million known COVID–19 infections, and they are blaming school
districts for not doing enough to reopen. I will read through it
again. Each one of us wants to reopen our school system as soon
as possible so that we can get our children back into classrooms
and reopen our economy. But we also have the responsibility to
care for the health and safety for our students, families, school
staff, and communities. And that, that must always be our first
and foremost priority.
I look forward to working with you and all my colleagues to pro-
vide our schools with the resources they need to safely reopen
classrooms, welcome students back to in-person instruction, and
help our economy recover from the pandemic. Thank you.
If there is no further business, without objection, this committee
stands adjourned.
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[Additional submissions for the record by Chairman Sablan fol-
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[Additional submissions for the record by Mrs. Foxx follow:]
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[Ms. Schwinn responses to questions submitted for the record fol-
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[Whereupon, at 1:02 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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