This could stop Lexington schools from reopening during COVID-19 pandemic
School reopening plans are moving forward in Lexington 1, but school district officials are still alert to the dangers the coronavirus pandemic poses to students.
This week, the Lexington 1 school board was told what would trigger a shift in the district’s “Stronger Together” reopening plan, at least in any schools that see an outbreak among students and faculty.
Under the current plan, students who opt for in-person learning options will be split into two groups and alternate days on campus, beginning Aug. 31, in line with plans Lexington 1 announced earlier this summer. If things go smoothly, a full week of classroom instruction could begin as early as Sept. 28.
But Superintendent Greg Little said four metrics would be used to determine if the district should shift or scale back those plans: if COVID-19 cases spike within a school; if there’s a drop-off in attendance, by either students or teachers; and whether there’s available auxiliary staff to cover for ill or quarantined employees.
Staff will monitor these factors daily, and investigate any “warning flags” that might lead district leaders to take action. Any combination of two factors — a drop in student attendance and a lack of available substitutes, for example — could lead to a shift in the reopening strategy. Schools that had already returned to normal operations could even shift back toward distance learning until things stabilize.
If any three of the factors come into play — or if the district sees a drop in staff attendance plus a lack of substitutes, which could imperil a school’s ability to simply staff all its classrooms — Lexington 1 will consider an “immediate” shift, accountability and assessment director Shane Phillips told school board members on Tuesday.
“The more factors that show up, the more critical things could potentially be,” Phillips said.
But Little told school board members the district will need to investigate specific circumstances before deciding whether to take action.
“If you have a large number of teachers who are quarantined, but they are getting ready to come back in within three days, your response might be a little different than if you have a large number of staff quarantined and they’re going to be out for three weeks,” Little said.
If needed to fill vacancies, asymptomatic teachers could work from home while under quarantine, Little said.
As part of the plan to move toward full in-class participation, Lexington 1 will slowly decrease social distancing measures, like requiring six feet of separation between desks. Instead, schools will rely more on student and staff reliably wearing masks, washing their hands and using hand sanitizer.
Little told board members he was optimistic because “when you see wider face mask use, you see cases go down.”
.jpg)