The New York Times - USA (2020-07-28)

A10 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020

Tracking an OutbreakU.S. Fallout

Jefferson High School. It seemed
futile, she said, to go against the
grain in a heavily pro-Trump com-
munity where many see masks as
an infringement of their personal
freedom — and in a state where
the Republican governor, Brian
Kemp, has been urging districts to
reopen their classrooms despite
the pandemic’s growing toll.
“I can’t fix it,” Ms. Fogle said.
“So I have to learn, how do we live
life as normal as possible and still
try to protect ourselves?”
The reopening plans have
starkly divided Jefferson, a mid-
dle-class city of about 12,000 peo-
ple, offering a likely preview of the
contentious debates ahead for
many other communities whose
school years start closer to the
end of summer.
An online petition created by
two Jefferson High seniors calling
for a mandatory mask rule has
garnered more than 600 signa-
tures. But a competing petition
demanding that masks remain a
choice for students has attracted
more than 200 signers, some of
whom have left comments that
underscore the politicized nature
of the disagreement. “Only liber-
als can get rona and I’m not a lib-
eral,” wrote one, using a slang
term for the coronavirus.
“TRUMP2020 no mask fo me.”
The virus has been surging in
the United States since mid-June.
And the possibility of more online-
only schooling in the fall — after a
spring in which many people were
forced to learn from home — is
raising concerns about the quality
of students’ education, the possi-
ble harm it may cause them psy-
chologically and socially, and the
child-care problems that working
parents will face.
President Trump said on Thurs-
day that schools in areas hit hard
by the coronavirus should delay
reopening. But he also said
schools should not be able to par-
take in a proposed multibillion-
dollar aid package unless they
open for in-person learning. That
same day, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention issued a
full-throated call to reopen
schools.
Researchers have painted an
incomplete picture about the wis-
dom of physically opening
schools. Children are less likely
than older people to get seriously
ill from Covid-19, and some re-
search suggests that younger chil-
dren may be less likely than teen-
agers to infect people.
Jefferson sits northeast of At-
lanta and is the seat of semirural
Jackson County, which has had 13
coronavirus-related deaths, and
an infection rate of 1,067 per
100,000 people. But in nearby

Gwinnett County, which has about

12 times as many people, the infec-

tion rate is considerably higher

and 216 people have died. More

broadly, Georgia, in the week end-

ing July 23, has seen an average of

3,287 new cases per day — an in-

crease of 42 percent from the aver-

age two weeks earlier. Many Jef-

ferson residents traditionally

commute for work to Atlanta and

beyond.

The president won almost 80

percent of the vote in Jackson

County in 2016, and he has repeat-

edly downplayed the seriousness

of the virus. Similar sentiments

have been a staple on a Facebook

forum for Jefferson residents that

has been flaring with passionate

disagreements about the pan-

demic and the school system’s re-

sponse to it.

“My kids have been to baseball,

wrestling and cheerleading prac-

tices,” one commenter wrote re-

cently. “We have been out to eat

and shopping. Yes I will be taking

precautions but locking my kids

up and making sure they are 6ft

from their friends is ridiculous.

What about their mental health.

It’s not normal for children to have

no interactions.”

Jefferson’s public school sys-

tem, which dates to 1818, has been

growing quickly. Today four

schools service the 3,800-student

system. The district, which is 78

percent white, boasts of high test

scores and other accolades on its

website, and makes some spots

available to out-of-district stu-

dents for $900 to $1,000 per year.

Donna McMullan, the district

superintendent, acknowledged

the nervousness. But she said the

reopening plan was carefully de-

vised to comply with state and

federal guidelines, and was devel-

oped after consulting parents.

“Obviously there are different

viewpoints about wearing the

masks,” Dr. McMullan said. The

reason they were not being man-

dated had nothing to do with poli-

tics, she said, but because stu-

dents with disabilities or other

medical conditions may not be

able to wear them.

She also said the plan could

change. Last week, reports sur-

faced that the state board of edu-

cation was considering pushing

all school openings to Sept. 8,

though nothing came of the idea.

A copy of notes from a July 15

high school department chair

meeting describes how masks will

be required on school buses, hall-

ways will be marked to encourage

walking on the right side, and

teachers will be required to send

children with coronavirus symp-

toms to a school nurse in an “isola-

tion room.”

“Teachers cannot require stu-

dents to wear masks in their class-

room,” the document says, though

it also encourages teachers to

“make masks the culture.”

Several teachers told The New

York Times they were concerned

about their health and the health

of others. All of them requested

anonymity because they feared

retaliation. One teacher said he

had numerous underlying health

issues and was afraid to go back

into the classroom.

“I think they’re worried about

upsetting people who aren’t tak-

ing Covid seriously,” the teacher

said. He noted that Governor

Kemp is suing Mayor Keisha

Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, a Dem-

ocrat, over her efforts to mandate

masks in the city. “So many Re-

publicans at all levels of govern-

ment aren’t taking this seriously.”

But other teachers say they are

ready to go back to work. “I’m not

paranoid, actually, of the virus.

I’m more worried about our kids

and their well-being if we don’t get

them back into the classroom,”

said Katie Sellers, an eighth-grade

physical science teacher at Jeffer-

son Middle School.

Ms. Sellers has two students in

the district, an eighth grader and a

senior. She said she was letting

them make up their own minds

about whether to wear masks.

“My senior has absolutely said

no” on the grounds that school

feels like a “safe space” for him,

she said.

Dr. McMullan said 2 percent of

students have selected the re-

mote-learning option. Those stu-

dents will be able to choose be-

tween at least two programs, one

provided by a private company

called Edgenuity and the other by

Georgia Virtual School, which is

run by the state.

The teachers of online classes

will be state certified, but some

parents were disappointed they

were not teachers from the Jeffer-

son system. Pete Fuller, a candi-

date for a local seat in the State

Legislature, said his two children,

an eighth and a ninth grader,

would be starting the year learn-

ing from home. “The choice was

basically given and it’s not the

choice I want to make,” he said.

Mr. Fuller said his ninth grader,

Rainey Fuller, 14, a trombone play-

er, tried to attend marching band

practice this month, and became

uncomfortable when many stu-

dents stopped wearing masks by

the second day.

Last week, about 30 incoming

freshmen and their parents ar-

rived in the big school auditorium

for an introductory session led by

the principal, Brian Moore. Nor-

mally, the hundreds of incoming

freshmen would show up in one

session, but because of the virus

they had broken into smaller ses-

sions. About a third of them were

wearing masks.

As he set out to find his new

classrooms with his mother, Hunt-

er Walker, 14, said he did not plan

to wear a mask. “No one around

my age has really been affected by

it as much,” he said. Then he noted

that a football player who had

been exposed to the coronavirus

had been at a weight training ses-

sion last Monday, forcing coaches

to shut down ninth-grade football

practice for the week.

It was one of many indications

that this could be a very long year

on campus — or, in fact, a very

short one.

Hope Terhune and Rylee Meadows, who will be seniors at Jefferson High School in Jefferson, Ga., started a petition to make wear-

ing masks at school mandatory. Dana Phillips, who has three children in the school system, would also prefer a mask mandate.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MELISSA GOLDEN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Brian Moore is the principal of Jefferson High. The district, which is 78 percent white, has four schools that serve 3,800 students.

Each student will receive a mask, but wearing it will be optional.

EDUCATION

Dispute Over Reopening

Of Schools Peaks Early

In a Small Georgia City

From Page A

President Trump’s national se-
curity adviser, Robert C. O’Brien,
has tested positive for the coro-
navirus, the administration said
on Monday.
Mr. O’Brien, 54, “has mild
symptoms” and is working re-
motely from “a secure location off
site,” the administration said in a
statement.
“There is no risk of exposure to
the president or the vice presi-
dent,” it said. “The work of the Na-
tional Security Council continues
uninterrupted.”
Mr. O’Brien is the most senior
White House official known to
have contracted the virus. He typ-
ically works from a West Wing of-
fice steps away from the Oval Of-
fice and, under normal circum-
stances, may see the president
several times a day.
It is unclear when he was last in
physical contact with Mr. Trump,
although he joined the president
on a July 10 trip to Florida.
Speaking to reporters before
departing the White House on

Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump

said he had heard about Mr. O’Bri-

en but did not know when he had

tested positive. “I haven’t seen

him lately,” the president added.

Mr. O’Brien also traveled to

Paris in mid-July, where he met

with several European security

officials, visited an American war

cemetery and attended a Bastille

Day celebration. It was unclear

whether he had become infected

before or after that trip. The White

House statement did not provide

further details.

A photograph of Mr. O’Brien in

Paris with his counterparts from

Britain, France, Germany and Ita-

ly shows the men standing nearly

shoulder to shoulder without

masks, and Mr. O’Brien and oth-

ers are not wearing masks in im-

ages of his ceremonial stops re-

leased by the White House.

Speaking to reporters at the

White House on Monday, Larry

Kudlow, Mr. Trump’s top eco-

nomic adviser, said that Mr. O’Bri-

en believed he had contracted the

virus from his daughter. “Appar-

ently it’s a light case,” Mr. Kudlow

said.

Senior White House aides are

tested regularly for the virus, as is

Mr. Trump.

The development comes as Mr.

Trump has begun to more frankly

acknowledge the severity of the

virus’s spread throughout the

American South and West.

Mr. O’Brien assumed his job in

September, succeeding John R.

Bolton, who resigned after mount-

ing conflicts with the president

over foreign policy.

He is the latest of several White

House staff members and others

in the president’s orbit who have

tested positive for the coro-

navirus. They include a military

officer who works as a presiden-

tial valet at the White House, as

well as Vice President Mike

Pence’s press secretary, Katie

Miller, both of whom tested pos-

itive in early May. Last week, the

White House closed two cafete-

rias in its extended complex after

an employee tested positive.

Mr. Pence postponed a planned

trip to Arizona this month after

members of his Secret Service de-

tail tested positive or showed

symptoms of the virus. Kimberly

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News

commentator who is dating Don-

ald Trump Jr., also contracted the

virus, as did several Trump cam-

paign advance staffers who

helped to arrange his June rally in

Tulsa, Okla.

Mr. O’Brien’s deputy on the Na-

tional Security Council, Matthew

Pottinger, was among the first

White House officials to wear a

mask. He accompanied Mr. O’Bri-

en on his trip to Paris this month.

The news of Mr. O’Brien’s infec-

tion resonated quickly across the

world.

Hu Xijin, the editor of the na-

tionalist Beijing newspaper

Global Times, tweeted that the

news about Mr. O’Brien, a leading

China hawk in the administration,

“shows the pandemic has been

completely out of control in the

US. No American is absolutely

safe.”

“Novel coronavirus is truly US’

top enemy now,” he added.

THE WHITE HOUSE

National Security Adviser Tests Positive, Highest-Ranking Trump Official to Do So

By MICHAEL CROWLEY

Robert C. O’Brien, above in March, contracted the coronavirus

at a family gathering, according to the White House.

AL DRAGO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The administration

says there’s no risk

to the president.