There was a wealth of data from early in the pandemic that school closures harmed children and schools were not significant sources of spread. It was ignored by North Americans who politicized the pandemic.
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Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open
Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent reports rising coronavirus cases, and even as many businesses and gathering places are shut or restricted. Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy appear to be following the emerging evidence that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the worst impacts of the pandemic on children.
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/13/93415...hools-are-open
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Four years later the costs have been tallied.
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What the Data Says About Pandemic School Closures, Four Years Later
The more time students spent in remote instruction, the further they fell behind. And, experts say, extended closures did little to stop the spread of Covid.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/u...ures-data.html
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We had choices. We ####ed up. Few experts who have studied the data disagree. From the NYT article:
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Though the next health crisis may have different particulars, with different risk calculations, the consequences of closing schools are now well established, experts say.
In the future, infectious disease experts said, they hoped decisions would be guided more by epidemiological data as it emerged, taking into account the trade-offs.
“Could we have used data to better guide our decision making? Yes,” said Dr. Uzma N. Hasan, division chief of pediatric infectious diseases at RWJBarnabas Health in Livingston, N.J. “Fear should not guide our decision making.”
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Closing schools again for even 2-3 weeks next fall will do more damage to the learning and welfare of Alberta children, who in many cases are still suffering the long-term consequences from the covid losses. If you think that the long-term gains to educational outcomes from increased salary or hiring would offset those losses, show your work. Be the science-based adults and leave the simplistic appeals to emotion to the populist right.