Colorado School Reopening Updates: Douglas County Opts For Hybrid Of In-Person And Remote Learning

Littleton CO

27 July, 2020

2:57 PM

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From Chalkbeat Colorado: By Chalkbeat Staff Updated July 26, 2020 July 25 Douglas County schools will start the year on a hybrid schedule Students in the Douglas County School District will attend school just two days a week and learn from home the other three, the school board decided at a special meeting Saturday. The decision comes as districts around the state are reassessing their back-to-school plans in light of rising cases of the coronavirus. Denver, Jeffco, and Aurora have all announced their intentions to start the school year remotely. School starts Aug. 17 in Douglas County. Douglas County's hybrid plan applies to all students starting in preschool. Douglas County is one of 15 Colorado counties at risk of losing its variance that allows more business activity if case counts don't come down soon. Douglas County elected officials have often been at odds with state and local public health officials over coronavirus restrictions. More information about the district's plan is available here. Read more: Aurora students will learn virtually for their first quarter this fall — Erica Meltzer July 23 Polis: A surge of coronavirus testing will follow school-based outbreaks During a press conference Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis said if there are coronavirus outbreaks at schools this fall, a surge of testing would take place — either in a specific cohort of students or the entire school. While state officials are still developing specific protocols for school-based outbreaks, he said the goal would be immediate testing spearheaded by the local public health department. He said such testing surges have already happened at other facilities with outbreaks — for example, a Buena Vista prison where 1,200 tests were administered earlier this month. "There will be site-based outbreaks at schools, like there is in any type of building or office," Polis said. In addition to testing, keeping students in consistent groups — known as cohorts — will also play a role in limiting virus spread and preventing schoolwide building closures, he said. One isolated outbreak with rapid testing, he said, might mean "Mrs. McGillicuddy's fourth grade class stays home for two weeks," but other classes can continue as usual. — Ann Schimke July 21 Aurora teachers voice concerns over returning to buildings During a special board meeting Tuesday night, the leaders of the Aurora teachers union presented survey results showing high levels of staff concern about the district's plans to return to in-person learning. According to the presentation, 1,042 district staff members responded to the union's survey, representing more than two-thirds of its membership. Of those respondents, upwards of 75% had moderate or high levels of concern about the coming school year. Aurora's current plan is to return elementary and middle school students to class full time. High schools, meanwhile, would operate at 50% capacity, with ninth- and 10th-graders attending school in the morning and 11th- and 12th-graders coming in the afternoon. At all levels, the plan relies heavily on the idea of creating cohorts, or groups of students and staff who interact with each other but not with other cohorts at the school. Peter Zola, another union member, also pointed out that the survey showed that a high number of staff members are worried about family members at elevated risk for COVID-19 complications. Zola said the district's survey asks staff about their own health conditions, but not about those of other family or household members. In the union survey, 47% of staff said they had a health risk themselves or were concerned about a family member's risk. Superintendent Rico Munn said at the meeting that so far 6.3% of staff respondents have asked for remote assignments based on their vulnerability. Union leaders said they want more of a role in crafting the fall plans. They have several questions and some specific requests, including some that may have already been addressed by district's planning teams, but that haven't yet been communicated to staff. Munn on Tuesday proposed that the board adopt a monitoring position setting up a pre-condition for allowing the in-person learning plan to move forward. Under that scenario, if both Adams and Arapahoe counties weren't downgraded from the state's "high" risk category by Aug. 3, the district would switch to another model to start the school year. School board members had questions about the monitoring plan. Some of them were uncomfortable proceeding with the in-person plan even for two more weeks, and in the end, no decision was made. The discussion will continue Friday afternoon at another special meeting. Read more: Colorado teachers union seeks remote start to school July 20 Jeffco teachers ask for school year to start remotely, not in classrooms The Jeffco teachers union released a statement Monday asking the school district to turn back on its plan to start classes next month with students in school buildings full time. "While Jeffco educators would like to see school return to normal as much as parents and students do, we have a responsibility to speak up for our school and community safety," said Brooke Williams, president of the Jefferson County Education Association. "The start of school should be online or be postponed until broader conditions improve and JCEA and Jeffco Schools can come together to agree on how to respond to rapidly changing COVID conditions." Last week, the Denver school district cancelled its previous plan to bring students back to school in person by the end of August. Instead, the largest school district in the state will start the school year online. Read more: U-turn: Denver reverts to virtual learning to start the school year According to the Jeffco union's statement, their own survey shows that a "vast majority of Jeffco educators" would not feel safe returning to in-person learning "without extensive measures to try to minimize the spread of COVID-19." The survey results, which were not provided in full, show that only 5% of respondents would feel moderately safe without enhanced measures. The union survey also found 40% of educators reporting underlying conditions that put them at higher risk. "Far more educators are likely to request online assignments than are available which will leave the district in the position of trying to decide whose health and safety is protected and whose is not," the statement reads. Cases of COVID-19 in Jeffco, like in much of the state, are trending up again. Read more: 'I'd like to live to teach another day:' Denver, Jeffco teachers react to reopening schools — Yesenia Robles 'Nothing magical' about 6 feet: New Colorado school guidance clears way for larger class sizes, more in-person instruction Colorado elementary schools can open with normal class sizes under new state guidance that emphasizes local flexibility and a "layered" approach to safety that doesn't depend on strict social distancing. The guidance, issued Monday by the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, calls on schools to use a combination of masks, home health screenings, proper ventilation, and the creation of cohorts — groups of students and adults that only interact with each other — to open safely while the coronavirus continues to circulate in the community. While schools should try to allow space for people to spread out, including holding classes outside where feasible, they will not be required to maintain 6 feet of distance among younger children — 3 feet is acceptable. The guidance says that older students, who are more likely to transmit the disease to others and to suffer health complications themselves, should maintain more distance, with any caps on class size dependent on the size of rooms "We know that we won't be able to eliminate all risk, and we're honest about that," said Katy Anthes, Colorado's education commissioner. "We hope with layered risk protections, we can have a safe environment." Read the full story here. — Erica Meltzer This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.