Are you mentally prepared for another lockdown? Do you have a plan for if schools return to remote learning? Now is the time to think about it.
By Kelly Ragan
If you haven’t already started to mentally prepare for another lockdown, or for what could happen if your kid’s school closes down, now is a good time to start.
For now, things are going well for Greeley-Evans School District 6, said school board president Michael Mathews.
But some major Colorado districts have worked to change course.
Denver Public Schools, Colorado’s largest school district, announced a big move this week. Only its kindergarten through second grade students, along with recently arrived immigrant students and students with disabilities will continue in-person classes for now, according to Chalkbeat.
Third, fourth and fifth graders will switch to remote learning until after Thanksgiving break. Middle and high school students will continue remote learning until Dec. 18, which is the end of the semester.
The move follows increased restrictions in Denver as hospitalizations continue to trend in the wrong direction.
“We’re monitoring the situation closely,” Mathews said. “It’s certainly concerning to see the numbers creep up, but we feel good about the decisions we made in August.”
Mathews said he’s been delighted with the reopening of the district.
Since District 6 reopened for in-person learning, the district has separated students and staff into various cohorts to limit their interaction with others. So, if one person in a cohort tests positive for COVID, the cohort can quarantine but the school can stay open. University Schools alone had three cohorts go into quarantine Wednesday because a student had symptoms, but the schools all remained open.
Many cohorts have had to quarantine and spend two weeks doing remote learning. Mathews acknowledged that can be difficult for parents, but said the system is working like it’s supposed to.
Schools aren’t seeing a lot of transmission, Mathews said, and that’s a good thing.
But if community spread gets too bad, it’ll become harder for schools to continue in-person learning, Mathews said, especially if more students, teachers and substitutes get sick.
When the school board discussed plans to reopen over the summer, board members agreed one of the most compelling reasons to return to in-person learning was the high poverty rate in Weld. Nearly 70% of District 6 students qualify for free- and reduced-price lunch – an indicator of poverty.
“We just know with our demographics, it’s better to be in school,” Mathews said. “We’ll do that for as long as we can.”
What would it take for District 6 to change course?
It’s hard for anyone to make solid plans as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and change. It’s possible District 6, and school districts across the country for that matter, will have to pivot this school year.
Mathews said most metrics on their own wouldn’t necessarily trigger an automatic school closure, but these are the metrics District 6 is watching when it considers if and when to move to 100% remote learning:
10% or greater positivity rate in Weld County (we were at about 6.92% as of Wednesday)
10% or greater COVID-19 related absence in multiple schools
10% or greater student or staff absence districtwide
Dramatically increasing hospitalization rates
Significant increase in rates of new cases per 100,000 people
New guidance from health officials and/or an executive order from Gov. Jared Polis