MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If the push to reopen Shelby County Schools to in-person classes has become divisive political issue, you wouldn’t know it from the Shelby County Commission. Commissioners voted unanimously this week to urge state health officials to move local school teachers up on the schedule for COVID-19 vaccinations. The vote was 13 to zero. That equates to 8 democrats and 5 republicans who think teachers deserve a higher priority for getting shots in the arm as the best way to get back to the classroom faster.
State and federal health officials have determined that schools can safely reopen without widespread vaccinations of teachers and staff. That appears to be backed up by reliable healthcare studies that have concluded the spread of COVID-19 is almost negligible in schools – particularly elementary schools. But more than a few teachers remain unconvinced, and SCS superintendent Dr. Joris Ray has resisted calls – mostly by Tennessee’s republican governor and Republicans in the legislature - to get schools open, even if some students remain in virtual learning.
Now that the county commission has spoken in bipartisan fashion, the chances of a resolution to this controversy seem far away, as our school kids fall farther and farther behind. The pandemic has already done immeasurable damage to the local economy – not to mention the death toll that keeps climbing. Vaccinations are our way out. They also are our way back – to school. And that’s my point of view.
