Brazil’s São Paulo state schools authorize 100% student in-person attendance

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As of Monday, August 2, state, municipal, and private schools in São Paulo are authorized to restart in-person classes and may accommodate up to 100% of the student body.

Classes were suspended by the state government at the start of the pandemic in March last year and resumed earlier this year at 35% capacity.

Yesterday’s return to in-person classes will not be mandatory: this should occur only in September. According to the State Department of Education, should students or their families wish to remain in remote or online classes, legal guardians are required to notify schools in writing.

Schools may host 100% of the student body provided that a limit of 1 meter between them is observed. Each school will be responsible for establishing this limit according to its physical capacity. Should the school be unable to accommodate all students in person, it will be allowed to implement a rotation system.

State school network

There are 3.5 million students in the state public school system, who will be required to wear masks inside schools. According to the State Department of Education, upon arriving at school all people will undergo temperature checks, and if above 37.5 degrees they will be instructed to return home.

The protocols also include frequent hand hygiene with soap and water or 70% hand sanitizer and ventilated environments with open doors and windows. Experts say that the most important measures to be implemented to prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) are ventilation and the use of masks.

On the other hand, teachers and staff should return to in-person classes without rotating. However, staff with comorbidities will only return to the classroom 14 days after the second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca/Fiocruz, Pfizer/BioNTech or CoronaVac/Butantan/Sinovac vaccines, or the single dose of Janssen’s vaccine.

The Secretariat reported that staff and employees who have chosen not to be vaccinated within the local calendar should also return to in-person work.

Municipal network

In the municipal school network the attendance limit will respect the physical capacity of each facility, keeping a 1-meter distance between students. According to the Municipal Department of Education, all students enrolled in early childhood education and elementary and high school may attended in-person and in a weekly rotation system for a maximum of two classes.

At Centers for Early Childhood Education (CEI), 60% of children and babies enrolled may attend, with no rotations. The exception is for students in the risk group who must remain in remote education.

For the time being, the return to classes in the São Paulo municipal network is optional, at parents or guardians’ discretion. The São Paulo city hall recommends that anyone experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 should seek medical help and not go to school.

Also as of yesterday, students in the municipal network will have access to catch-up activities. Students with more learning deficits in relation to the year or grade in which they are enrolled will attend parallel after-school reinforcement activities.

Pediatric Society

In a note, the São Paulo Pediatric Society (SPSP) said that parents should not be afraid to send their children to school at this pandemic time. According to the entity, research has shown that children are not major transmitters of the virus and do not typically evolve into severe cases.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has afflicted the whole planet and has been especially severe in our country, with more than half a million Brazilians losing their lives prematurely. Nevertheless, the number of children severely affected and developing an unfavorable clinical outcome has been relatively low,” said the São Paulo Pediatric Society’s School Health Department chairman Fausto Flor de Carvalho.

“Research conducted in Brazil and abroad has shown that children are not major spreaders of the virus, that they tend to have mild to moderate symptoms and nearly half of them are asymptomatic,” he explained.

Carvalho said that the absence of in-person classes has led to other issues for children, such as eating disorders and interpersonal relationships (distance from friends and contact with adults only), in addition to difficulty in concentrating.

“Therefore, we believe that this is the right time to restart in-person classes. Parents should work with their children on protective measures and should remain in contact with the school. If the child experiences any respiratory symptoms, they should be removed from school and seek medical attention for diagnosis. Good communication between parents, schools, and health professionals will contribute to a safer return with minimal risks for everyone,” he said.

For its part, the São Paulo State Official Education Teachers Union (APEOESP) is against returning to school at this time. The union believes that classes should only be resumed after all teachers have received the second Covid-19 vaccine dose. “Better than anyone we know that teachers and students belong in schools, but this is not the time,” the union said.

“The vaccination process for education professionals and the population is ongoing. Therefore, it makes no sense to return to in-person classes in August. Some teachers will only be administered the second vaccine dose in September. Only after everyone is vaccinated with the second dose and all health protocols are in place to ensure the continued control of the pandemic may we return to schools,” said the union in a statement published on its website.

Private schools

According to the São Paulo State Education Establishment Union (SIEEESP) there are some 12,000 private schools in the state, with 2.4 million students in basic education. In private schools in-person classes have been offered since March, the union said, but until now at a 35% limit on the number of enrollments.

As of yesterday, after a vacation period, private schools are resuming in-person classes, allowed to serve up to 100% of students provided that the physical distance limit between them is respected.

“Private schools follow all protocols recommended by the São Paulo Plan [the state’s economic reopening plan in force during the pandemic], from health and education authorities and SIEEESP’s own protocol, prepared by doctors, pediatricians and specialists,” the union said.