The Safest Place

On January 1 — this year not only the New Year’s Day holiday but also a Saturday — Springs School Superintendent Deb Winter and Principal Christine Clearly spent their morning with a handful of staff passing out rapid COVID-19 tests to parents in anticipation of school reopening this week following the holiday break.

Springs School in East Hampton was not the only district encouraging parents to test their children at home before sending them back to school. With the omicron variant fueling an intense winter surge — only expected to increase in the next week, fallout from holiday get-togethers — New York State sent millions of testing kits to districts in an effort to keep schools open. Districts across the South Fork distributed those tests last weekend and early this week.

It’s a dramatic change from almost two years ago, when schools, along with most businesses, were shuttered as the COVID-19 pandemic took its initial hold on the country. Granted, it’s a completely different landscape: Vaccination has led to less severe cases, and the omicron variant may be more transmissible but so far appears to be a milder form of the virus. But there’s a clear change in philosophy when it comes to public education in the age of COVID-19.

The research is clear: School is the safest place for children. It is not where transmission is largely taking place and is a critical resource for families and students. The state — and local school districts — should be commended for recognizing this reality and for putting systems in place to keep schools open as we weather the latest COVID-19 storm.