In one of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to pressure schools to reopen, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said Thursday that schools were an “essential service” and cited factories as a model.
“To me, schools are an essential service. We’ve had our factories in this country open throughout the pandemic. We’ve had our grocery stores open,” Scalia said at a news conference in Florida with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose administration this week mandated that schools open in August despite a major coronavirus surge in the state. “We even have tattoo parlors open and hair salons,” Scalia said.
“We’re ready to open our schools,” he continued. “We know how to safely open our workplaces. There are steps that can be taken that will be successful.”
Scalia’s comments come two days after President Donald Trump demanded that all schools reopen in the fall, suggesting that governors who don’t do so have political motives. Then on Wednesday Trump trashed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for safely reopening schools as “very tough” and “expensive” and threatened to cut off federal funding if schools don’t hold in-person classes this fall.
Factories fight coronavirus outbreaks
Factories, however, have not had an easy time operating during the pandemic. Many have contended with their own coronavirus outbreaks in recent months.
The President even had to issue an executive order in late April mandating that meat processing plants remain open. Some of the country’s largest plants had to close temporarily after thousands of employees tested positive for the virus. At the time, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union estimated that 20 workers had died of Covid-19.
GE had to temporarily shutter a North Dakota wind turbine blade factory in April after an outbreak that prompted the state Department of Health to order all employees to quarantine in their homes for two weeks.
In May, Ford briefly shut down two factories only days after reopening because workers tested positive. A pasta plant in Washington state had to temporarily stop operating around the same time for the same reason.
Tyson Foods reported last month that nearly 500 workers had tested positive at its plants in Arkansas.
Some school districts push back reopening dates
The President and his administration are focused on reopening schools in part because they see it as a critical component to getting Americans back to work and jump-starting the economy, which they believe will aid his reelection chances in November.
But the surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks has already prompted some school districts to adjust their plans for the fall.
Arkansas delayed its first day of school from August 13 to August 24 to give districts more time to prepare, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday, adding that the state is “committed” to on-site instruction.
Metro Nashville Public Schools will not return to in-person learning on August 4 as planned but will instead fully implement virtual learning through “at least” Labor Day, Director Adrienne Battle said Thursday.
“I’m not a public health expert, but I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with the data and information in front of us,” Battle said in a news conference, noting that in the last week alone the area has seen “some of the worst daily numbers” since the crisis began in March. “This is not the way I wanted things to go.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Hartfield and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report.
