Schools are in a bind. Kids need to learn, parents need to work, teachers need to teach, but COVID is an ever-present danger.
School decisions are local. All make their best decisions with the information they have. Thousands of schools have countless solutions, some good, some not so good. Results are spotty. After outbreaks, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill / Michigan State University sent students home. Notre Dame University – Louaize (NDU) / Carnegie Mellon University delayed in-person classes. Cherokee County in GA closed high schools and quarantined students and staff. Over 400 cases were reported in MS schools with >2,600 students/staff quarantined. More outbreaks are likely.
There is no right answer, but this is a time for science not conjecture. Simulation modeling can help. Develop and test your plan virtually. Explore options – safety protocols, class types, class size/spacing, schedules, mixing of individuals, sharing of materials, and many others. Leverage data. Define variables/variability. Define the plan and run it many times to identify expected results, ranges, risks and uncertainties before opening to the real world. MOSIMTEC data scientists/industrial engineers can help. Our families are going through this too.
#COVID19 #modelingandsimulation #predictive simulation