Tucson Standard

Katie Maxwell, an associate director and senior lecturer at the Eller College of Management School at The University of Arizona, believes it's time for students to safely return to school.

Maxwell told the Tucson Standard that the general sense is that COVID-19 numbers have decreased, which means the time to return to the classrooms is now.

"I think we have crossed the tipping point where the negative impact to their (students) mental health is outweighing the possible risk on the physical health. And I think there's sufficient technology that if there are teachers that are not comfortable being in the classroom, there's ways to allow them to teach students in the classroom from home," she said.

Having a daughter who is a senior in high school doesn't make Maxwell concerned about having to assist with e-learning. Her neighbor has younger children. That makes it difficult for the mother to work from home since she has to assist her kids more. Maxwell believes that families should be given the choice if they will pursue online versus a face-to-face setting.

"Districts have an option for families who are not comfortable having their students return, and families should invoke the online option if that's the situation that they're in or teach," Maxwell said.

Maxwell comes from a family of educators and has always thought about how they would feel if they were in the classroom before forming an opinion. 

"If a teacher is not comfortable returning under those circumstances, then it's, unfortunately, time for them to find a different profession," she said.

As flu season nears, Maxwell said she doesn't agree with the idea that schools should shut down for the flu.

"I'm hoping that seasonal flu impacts will be less significant because we've learned about the importance of washing our hands and wearing a mask and doing all the other good public health practices," she said.

Maxwell received her Bachelor's degree from The University of Northern Iowa and her Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University. Her areas of expertise are management accounting and financial accounting.