Do you recommend that children with sickle cell disease refrain from returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic?

If schools are open and there is no special infectious risk at the school in question, then it would likely be appropriate to send your child with sickle cell anemia to school. There is no evidence of extra risk of COVD in patients who have had an autosplenectomy and no evidence of particular problems in patients with sickle cell anemia. Presumably one would have 2 or so months to decide how things are going before making a decision, and one could change the decision if and when it seems good to change. There are always infections among school children, so there is no guarantee that a veno-occlusive crisis will never occur, but it does not seem that there is an increased risk. 

The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America recently published this checklist to assist with the decision on school re-entry for children with sickle cell disease.