On July 12, I sent this to the Charlemont Selectboard, the Board of Health and several health-related staff of the FRCOG. To date, I have had no replies.
I am sending this directly to the regional school committees in hopes that there will be some support for what I propose. I referred specifically to the Hawlemont committee; however, the idea is certainly applicable for the higher grades as well.
Recent data show that children under age 10 can acquire the virus and, while most may experience mild illness, others may get acutely ill, and some may experience other health effects that can be long-lasting. Those between 10 and 20, definitely can acquire and transmit COVID-19 as efficiently as adults, and once again, many can become seriously ill and also have long-lasting chronic health effects.
While it is true that many of the hill towns have, so far, been generally spared the bulk of illness that other, more densely populated areas have seen, the recent re-opening of the state may change this.
This weekend for example, the town of Charlemont saw hundreds and hundreds of recreational tourists flocking to our area. From what was evident at at least one Main Street business on Sunday, large crowds were congregating and virtually no one was wearing face coverings, let alone practicing social distancing.
As we are now seeing in Southern and Western parts of the country, such situations can result in significant community spread, even where this has not been a problem before.
I believe that children deserve and learn better with face-to-face education, and I am not suggesting school be “virtual” or as the kids call it “Zoom School.” This is to strongly urge the town of Charlemont to seek out funding to have COVID-19 testing of all teachers, other school staff, bus drivers and any appropriate other adults, as well as all students and parents of Hawlemont children before allowing them to attend in person school.
I realize that there is a shortage of tests available, but science shows that this is the only way to be sure that we don’t experience an outbreak that forces the school to close down again, and possibly causes illness or death among susceptible individuals. Time is fleeting if we are going to get this done, and strong, effective leadership is required.
I suspect you will find strong community support for this effort. At least one state legislator has spoken out in support of testing already. Many colleges have announced their plans for widespread and frequent testing in their environments. It is evident that the federal government continues to fail in its duties, so responsibility for protecting our citizens has, of necessity, devolved to state and local governments.
I believe that testing may allow a more normal approach to educating our kids, and could even help reduce costs of transportation, need to retrofit physical plants, etc.
William M.Coli, Ph.D., is a resident of Charlemont.