Keeping School Buildings Open

Spacing students far enough apart safely was a big concern in Manzanola School District 3J, a rural district on Colorado’s southeastern plains where temperatures can stay in the upper 90s and even above 100 well into October. The state had imposed distancing requirements to limit the spread of the virus, which proved difficult for schools that remained in session.

Chris Smith, superintendent for Ellicott School District 22, which sits east of Colorado Springs in the middle of a vast swath of farms dotting windswept prairie, said that he and his staff felt “an enormous sense of fear” as everything ground to a halt in the spring of 2020. The coronavirus was spreading across the globe, schools were going remote and restrictions on everything from gathering to how close people could stand were being imposed.