AKRON, Ohio — Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that reopening wouldn’t be as a big of a problem in communities with low-risk transmission rates of COVID-19.
But for one county in northern Ohio, reopening is challenging as many districts in the county sit in areas with high rates of transmission. As the data keeps changing, some say they’re relying on it, but it’s not their sole source of what they’re using to make their reopening decisions.
Summit County Health Department is leaving it up to each district to decide on how they’ll start the school year, but they’re now recommending that all K-12 schools start the year virtually. That’s their preferred option, which comes with some exceptions:
- In-person learning for special education students and those needing intervention services
- Health department options to start the year included all virtual, blended-learning or in-person learning based
- Case counts have increased and nearly 300 children have tested positive for COVID-19
Deciding how to open school in the coming weeks is not easy.
“It really is very nervewracking to try and come up with something that’s going to satisfy everyone,” said David James of Akron Public Schools said.
It’s also hard because as COVID-19 cases continue to climb, there’s wide, community spread and hospitalizations are up. Plus, officials said there’s not enough rapid testing for kids, and nearly 300 children have tested positive for COVID-19 under the age of 19.
Every time new data like this comes out, James said it weighs heavy on the board member minds, especially since they have 21,000 students.
“That’s a lot of interaction and are we happen to have, you know, a few zip codes in our district that have some of the highest community spread rates at least in our counts,” James said. “And so those are things that weigh on our minds.”
But case counts aren’t the only thing affecting their decisions on how to reopen.
“We also have to look at our employees. We have to look at our bus drivers who you know transport a large number of our kids.”
The health department is giving districts options on how to start. That’s because they recognize some may have more resources than others and less students to handle in person learning. Akron Public Schools is going virtual the first quarter of the year with a staggered start. James said he’s content with the current plan to reopen, he noted that they’ll “have to continue to watch it constantly in terms of where it goes.” James hopes they’ll get back to a blended model and full in person learning sooner than later, but only time will tell.
Summit County health officials said as they observe the case count, especially within schools, they’ll revisit their recommendation for schools as necessary. Right now, officials say since some districts will open fully, they expect the virus to spread further in communities where transmission is already high. For now they’re just hoping everyone in Summit County will be socially responsible so that they can see the case count flatten.
