Interest in k12 to get back to school. Parents who need to get back to work. Im spread so thin. The risk of her not having access to education outweighs the other risks. And students whose education is about to include one of the biggest lessons of their lives. Just goes to show that anything can change our lives. This is an nbc news special report. Coronavirus and the classroom. Hello, everyone, im lester holt and thank you for joining us. There may be no greater example of how the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted american life, how it has sown chaos and anxiety along with illness and death and the challenge of going back to school. Tonight with the new school year upon us, families, communities and educational institutions across the country are facing a bewildering array of tough choices and it seems none of those choices are without risk. Teachers want to teach, but can they do so safely in person, in a classroom, full of students . Parents want their kids in school, but will that put those kids in harms way . And how can parents go back to work if their kids have to stay at home . And what about the kids, themselves . Millions of students from kindergarten to college, eager to learn, to get out of the house, to be with their friends. Is that an acceptable risk or disaster waiting to happen . Over the next hour, we hope to bring some clarity to those questions. To bring you the very latest information to help you understand the stakes and navigate the choices your family will have to make. We have our team assembled to take us through it all. Well hear as well from the director of the centers for Disease Control and prevention, dr. Robert redfield, on coronavirus in the classroom. Let me just quickly get this out of the way right now. I am separated by more than eight feet from the nearest person behind a tv camera and, thus, im not wearing my mask right now. Lets get started now. Nbcs tom costello on where things stand right now. Tom . Same story with me, thank you, lester. Nationwide, 90 kids and teens have now died from covid19, but Public Health experts generally agree they need to get, we need to get kids back to school. Its better for their education. Its better for their physical and their emotional wellbeing. But if kids return to school in a covid hot zone, the fear is the virus will spread like wildfire endangering entire communities. Across the country, the morning ritual is changing profoundly. For 56 million k12 students, the school year. For those who return to school in the fall, fewer kids on the school bus. Face masks. Temperature checks at the front door. Fewer kids per classroom. Alternating inclass days. And spaced out cafeteria seating. I think hes needing to go to school, interact, you know, have the teacher be his teacher, not his mom be his teacher. Reporter but for millions of kids and teens the return to school this fall will be virtual. Of the 25 biggest districts in the country, 18 are opening with Remote Learning only. Including l. A. , san diego, san francisco, seattle, denver, chicago, houston, atlanta, and washington, d. C. Other School Systems including new york city, the countrys largest, plan to use inperson learning or a hybrid model. Still, a quarter of new York City Kids are opting for all Remote Learning. No one wants it to be this way. Parents, educators, and students would all love to be back in the classroom. I miss school and my friends and going to different places. Reporter but these are not normal times. Theres a lot at stake here. Theres a lot at stake for kids educations and their social wellbeing and theres a lot at stake for health. Finding that path in the middle is where communities are struggling right now. Reporter first, a fact check. Can kids contract covid19 . The cdc says absolutely. More than 380,000 teens and kids have already contracted the virus. Roughly 9 of all coronavirus cases. While most wont become seriously ill, researchers believe even asymptomatic young people can contactiactively spr virus to others including teachers, parents and the elderly. Cherokee county, georgia, two high schools are closed after dozens of confirmed cases. More than 1,200 students and staff quarantined districtwide. 45 minutes away North Paulding High School remains closed with 35 positive cases after students packed the hallways often without masks. I just feel like thats the risk some of us seniors are willing to take to have our senior year. Reporter across the country teachers are concerned about their own health. Youre packing 300 kids, almost 300 kids, into a school. How is that following the guidelines that everyone has put up . Reporter Marcie Warner is retiring after 40 years teaching in scottsdale, arizona. I love those kids, and and where i taught and what i did, but im not quite willing to die for them. Reporter but the president is still pushing to get students back. All schools should be making plans to resume inperson classes as soon as possible. Reporter providing guidelines similar to the advice offered by health experts. The cdc is pushing inperson learning when possible. Among its member recommendations, no entry into a school for anyone with a temperature over 100. 4. Keep small pods of teachers and students together all day. Physical barriers to minimize the transmission if somebody coughs, sneezes or talks. In addition, continuously disinfect hightouch surfaces like playgrounds, like doorknobs, light switches, teskttes desktops, countertops and restrooms. Harvards dr. Shah says schools feed to prioritize which kids return to school first. The best evidence is that younger kids transmit less and also the best evidence is that younger kids really need that face to face in a way the older kids maybe need it a little less so if i were prioritizing, id start in k12. Reporter in houston county, georgia, school resumed last week. Many stayed separated in the hall and sat divided by plexiglas at their desk. Now its also reporting positive cases. Im looking forward to seeing my friends and just getting back in the school. Reporter but that will have to wait for this 10yearold in maryland who will start fifth grade online. Corona kid graduate, our first graduate of the year. Reporter she completed fourth grade at home in what her dad dubbed corona care academy. You survived Distance Learning at home with mom and dad. Reporter you must be, like, at the top of your class. Youre super smart. I am. See . Reporter her dad was also at home. Serving as the cook, reading, writing, arithmetic, gym, and music teacher, but he was only home because in his real job he is a teacher at another school. Now teaching music online which requires a lot of patience and flexibility. I told some of my students, hey, lets do the lessen on on saturday. I was okay with extending the traditional times of monday through friday understanding that my goal is can i meet the needs of that child . Reporter no doubt about it the 2021 school year is going to be very different. Theres no way to eliminate the risk. You can reduce it quite a lot. You can reduce it for the teachers and administrators. Weve seen from other places an t around the world, when you do that, schools are not a source of outbreaks and it is generally a manageable risk. Reporter doctors all believe that kids who are in lowcovid exposure theirs, they should be able to resume School Without much of a problem. In areas that are hot zone and with how quickly this virus is spreading, its also entirely possible some kids will be online all year. Lester . I love the corona academy. Tom, thanks very much. No group has a greater stake in safely reopening schools than teachers. In new york, here in new york, one the countrys biggest hotspot, but now relatively under control, some teachers are concerned about the citys plan to reopen its 1,800 schools for a mix of inperson and remote classes. Nbc news and qb correspondent Antonia Hilton spoke with some of them. Shut it down shut it down reporter alex has taught special education students in new york city for seven years. Black schools matter reporter hes used to challenging environments. Returning to the classroom in the midst of a pandemic doesnt sit right. Im pissed off. I think theyre so disconnected from reality. Reporter what are your personal fears about what it would mean for you to be back in School Building with your kids . My personal fear is one of my students would get it and they would die. Like, thats the absolute worstcase scenario or somebody would contract it and spread it to their families. Reporter new york city leaders announced Public Schools would return to a mix of inperson and remote instruction. Now that the citys infection rates are under control. Alex is a member of a small social justice caucus within the larger United Federation of Teachers Union called the movement of rank and file educators. And theyre considering calling for a strike or sickout. The city consulted closely with Union Leadership on reopening plans, but some teachers felt like their voices ws s werent heard. Shut it down reporter by School Leaders like schools chancellor, richard caranzza. What i heard from parents is they need their children in school. 1. 1 Million Students in new york city, we have a little over 300,000 families that have elected to start the school year Remote Learning. Thats threequarters of our families that as of right now are saying we will go to a blendedlearning environment as long as its safe. Reporter how will the city respond if teachers decide to strike . You know, i dont know, but im appealing to teachers to say to them, we hear you, we understand. This is, based on the medical science, and weve set thresholds that if that number starts creeping the other way, we will pivot to Remote Learning without hesitation. Im just appealing to teachers to understand that our children need us. They need us now more than ever. Reporter some of them as though rankandfile educators werent brought to the table in the negotiations around reopening. Why werent regular educators included in those conversations . Well, we ive had a number of town halls where there have been teachers that have been part of those town halls. I do know that the uft which represents teachers has been working with us shoulder to shoulder. Ive been a teacher has well. Theyre scary times for all of us. Reporter vanessa plans to return to teach english at her high school in brooklyn. She loves her students, but shes worried about her family. I would be putting my mom at risk of covid. She has high Blood Pressure. Shes undocumented. So she has no Health Insurance and if she were to get sick, i dont know if she would want to go to a hospital because of her status. Reporter do you think theres a chance youd strike . I dont think so. Reporter to what extent does your family depend on you being able to work . A lot because im the run whos helping with rent right now. Look, its mommy. Reporter alex has a 2yearold daughter, miriam. His expartner, gabby, is also a teacher. And they dont know how theyll juggle childcare this fall. We all came into this with the idea we want to do this job to service our children, to do our best. In good times its frustrating, but in times like this, t even its terrifying. That was antonai hilton repo reporting. Earlier today i spoke with the directors of the centers for Disease Control and prevention, dr. Robert redfield, who had a dire warning this week about what the fall season could bring. We talked about recent cases where kids have gone back to school and classes reopened only to have those kids end up in quarantine just days later. I asked him what message that sends to other schools still on the fence about what to do. Well, i think the most important thing, lester, is to realize that schools arent theyre not only central to the childs academic success, but they really are important to provide the mental, nutritional, emotional support, to children and their families and this is why we believe its in the Public Health interest of k12s to get back to school. The most important thing to impact what you just said about kids being found to be covid positive in school is to continue to get control of the transmission within the community. Again, many of these children, obviously, got infected in the community setting. So this is going to be one of the challenges to make sure we continue to make progress on Community Transmission in the communities that open and to really look its in the best interest of our society to work toward facetoface learning. And in schools and communities that are still wrestling with an outbreak, should they be feeling pressure from the cdc and the white house right now to open classrooms or would you give them the space to make that decision . Yeah, we dont want to pressure anybody. Our guidance is there to help them begin to open, as i said, safely and sensibly. The timing of that is going to have to be decided one school at a time. Were there to help provide that tekd ca technical assistance. You alarmed a lot of people with your assessment of what the call could bring. We got the flu season coming up here very soon. You and i both know even without covidpetrie dishes sometimes. Walk me through what we might expect not only in schools but elsewhere. Thank you, lester. I think its really important the emphasis im trying to make that i personal believe that the American Public is taking heed to the messages that we set, the powerful weapons we have. Universal face masks. Distancing. Washing hands. Being smart about crowds. We do that, that were going to have a Significant Impact on covid and were going to have a Significant Impact on flu. I want the parents to realize this is time to embrace the flu vaccine with confidence. Normally, only about 50 of the American Public take advantage of the flu vaccine. If we choose not to get vaccinated, not to embrace these mitigation strategies, it could be a very difficult time. I dont believe thats whats going to happen. I believe the American People are going to embrace these strategies and as a consequence and get vaccinated for flu and were going to get through united this pandemic and flu season together and im optimistic, cautiously, that some time in the late fall early winter wel have ll have andy help, a safe and efficacious covid19 vaccine to apply to counter this pandemic. Youve seen probably the same pictures we have been sharing every weekend, it seems, we end up with these pictures of mass gatherings, people not wearing masks, ignoring those rules. If that continues, flip this upside down, what are we looking at . Well, what id like to do is see how we can get the counterstory out there, too, where we do see universal masks. I think thats why i said it was a tale of two cities. You know, between whether we have two pandemics occurring at the same time, or whether were able to use these tools to mitigate them. Im still going to stay and put my confidence with the American Public. That theyre going to embrace flu vaccine. Theyre going to embrace these mitigation steps. We are seeing a change in the number of jurisdictions now that have an upward trajectory. And as you know, parents right now, theyve just really want some guidance. They want somebody in authority with the knowledge to say, its okay to send your child back. Its going to be okay. Or maybe its not. What do you say to folks watching right now who really need to hear from you or someone like you . Well, i think its an important thing. We have tried to put out checklists for parents, as you know, that weve reechcently pu out to help them make that decision. We are going to be putting out additional Reference Material to help based on the amount of transmission in different areas. I think its important for people to realize this is a process. Not everybody has to run at the same pace. We have to rebuild the confidence. Obvious aas students, parents, and teachers. Clearly those areas that are having limited tran tran obvid zones one has to be more cautious. I dont want to pontificatponti yes, you have to open if youre green, no, you cant open if youre red. I think we have to take each of these situations and evaluate them for the unique circumstances. You made the pitch, of course, for a flu vaccine. The Antivaccine Movement is alive and well in this country. And theyve come at odds with schools over requirements. Are you worried about an acceptance of a vaccine in schools . Yes, and this is why i really call on my colleagues. Im a physician by training. I call on physicians, nurse practitioners, p. A. S, nurses, the medical community, to invest the time. It doesnt help to ridicule the parent thats nervous about vaccines. Were all never about making a mistake, the health of our grandchildren or children. Take time to work with those individuals so that they condition understand whether they should be nervous if theyre leaving this vaccine on the shelf. They want their grandchildren, their children, to benefit from it. The same for the people that have been misinformed. Theres a lot of people that are misinformed. You cant change their view by just telling them, you need to change your view. I dont agree with you. No, its going to take time and dialogue to move individuals from what i call Vaccine Hesitancy from either fear or misinformation, to bringing them into what i am trying to coin vaccine with confidence. I need basically my medical community to go allin on this and i need those individuals that understand the value of this important, most powerful, scientific gift of modern medicine, vaccination. To embrace that vaccine. Dont leave it on the shelf for their children, themselves, their community, and their family. All right. Dr. Red feield, we appreciate yu taking time. Its always great to speak to you. We appreciate the update. We hope so. Thank you very much. God bless you. Well take a quick break