With Masks On or Off, Schools Try to Find the New Normal
The New York Times
Despite some turmoil, a vast majority of students have been in classrooms full-time and mostly uninterrupted this fall. Now, educators debate what’s next.
When schools fully reopened, the Delta variant drove many worries: Would crowded classrooms run up infection rates? Would outbreaks keep many schools closed? Could there be a normal academic year — the first since the pandemic began?
The news so far has been reassuring: A vast majority of the nation’s 50 million public school students have been in classrooms, full-time and mostly uninterrupted, this fall — whether students are masked or unmasked, teachers vaccinated or not. In fact, infection rates declined 35 percent nationally through the month of September, as many schools opened their doors.
Students in Miami were excited to be back in class, said Alberto M. Carvalho, the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. “Things are fairly normal in Miami,” he said, “despite the headlines.”
