A Texas School Reopens and Everyone Holds Their Breath
Temperature checks, X’s on seats and masks on the playground become the new normal; ‘if they’re not concerned, something’s wrong with them.’
COLLEGE STATION, Texas—On the eighth day of opening a school to students, Superintendent Eddie Conger marveled that there were no reported Covid-19 cases. He had established safety measures, some beyond federal guidelines, but still was braced for the virus to strike.
In a conference room that day, he got a jolt. An administrator told him a laser temperature check in the drop-off lane revealed a student with a fever. Everyone with a temperature under 100 can enter school, but 100 or over requires another check. A second high reading means a trip back home.
“The kid never left the car,” the administrator assured Mr. Conger.
International Leadership of Texas-College Station, a public charter school serving kindergarten through 10th grade, reopened to in-person learning on Aug. 13, among the first to do so in the U.S. Its students, teachers and parents are learning an early lesson: School during a pandemic is school unlike they’ve ever seen it.
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