In the out of town community where I live, our schools have been open this entire school year, albeit with sporadic closings of specific classes.
We have implemented a containment protocol which includes all staff and students wearing masks except when eating or during recess. Each class has maintained its own bubble, with no mixing of classes allowed during lunch, recess, or any other time.
School does not seem to be a major source of spread, judging by who did and didn’t get the virus within each class.
Our Shuls (with varying degrees of strictness) still maintain social distancing and mask wearing policies, and some even still require registration for Minyanim. Our stores (both the Jewish-owned ones and the non-Jewish-owned ones) still require mask wearing and social distancing.
I was in the NY/NJ area several times recently, and in most places it’s as if there is no virus. This has to be the bigger issue than opening the schools. Indeed, it would seem to make the question of opening schools a joke. Why not open the schools if everything else (restaurants, shuls, weddings, shopping, etc) is business as usual?
The Gedolei Eretz Yisrael that you referenced were discussing whether to open school in context of a strict lockdown in the rest of society.