According to state guidelines, the coronavirus pandemic in and around South Washington County Schools is contained enough to safely bring elementary students back to school full time and secondary students part time.
For school board members, however, such a scenario is far too risky. They voted last week to use an instruction model one level safer than state guidelines suggest for the upcoming school year.
At least three board members think even that’s too dangerous. They’ll consider voting Thursday to keep every student home at the start of the school year.
“I don’t really want to play Russian roulette with children’s and teachers’ lives,” Melinda Dols said Monday.
A MORE CAUTIOUS MODEL
At least 23 of Minnesota’s largest school districts already have decided where and how instruction will take place to start the school year. Of those, 16 have settled on a model that’s more cautious than Gov. Tim Walz’s long-awaited guidelines advise.
Many school districts have been surveying parents and teachers about their concerns and intentions for the start of the school year. Districts may be playing it safe because that’s what their communities say they want, said Deb Henton, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.
Psychology professor Paul Slovic, who studies risk assessment and decision making at the University of Oregon, said deciding when to reopen schools during the pandemic is complicated.
“The decision rests on values such as the importance and effectiveness of in-class education vs distance learning, the benefits to the economy and household finances of allowing parents to work, and the risk to children, parents, and the community associated with these various instruction models,” he said by email.
“Those opting for more cautious plans are giving more weight to protecting the health of kids and the community.”
NO TARGET
St. Paul’s Joe Gothard is one of at least three Minnesota superintendents who have called for keeping school buildings closed in favor of exclusive distance learning next month.
According to state health officials, local infection rates suggest St. Paul schools could safely offer in-person instruction every day for elementary students and part time for secondary students, although Gothard said they’d need more staff and classroom space to do so.
Board member Steve Marchese cast the lone vote last week against Gothard’s plan, saying he wants St. Paul’s youngest students, as well as those in special education or learning English, back in school right away.
Marchese asked that Gothard set his own measurable targets for returning to school if he isn’t going to follow what the state laid out.
“Those were guidelines that were set up by experts, based on science,” Marchese said.
FIVE SCENARIOS
The state’s guidelines contemplate five scenarios: full in-person instruction, a part-time or hybrid schedule, full distance learning, and two intermediate levels where elementary students are in school more often than older students.
The recommended scenario for a given school district depends on the number of new coronavirus cases their county has had over a recent two-week stretch compared to the county’s total population.
That’s only the first step, however. District officials are to consider additional factors, such as bus logistics and the capacity of their schools to allow for social distancing.
Duluth Superintendent John Magas on Tuesday recommended in-person instruction for elementary schools and hybrid for secondary, even as coronavirus case numbers would allow for full in-person instruction under state guidelines.
The West St. Paul district tentatively plans to start with a hybrid schedule for all. Although coronavirus case rates suggest elementary schools could reopen, new cases in Dakota County have been climbing for several weeks.
Like Minneapolis and St. Paul, St. Louis Park’s superintendent has proposed distance learning at all grades for at least the first month of school, even as coronavirus case rates suggest part-time face-to-face instruction would be safe.
GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH DISTANCE LEARNING
Patrick Duffy, director of curriculum and instruction in St. Louis Park, said there’s uncertainty over their ability to provide a safe environment at school. They also want to get students and teachers comfortable with distance learning.
“We wanted to start the year with a very strong base in distance learning,” Duffy told the school board, which has yet to approve the plan.
Many of the nation’s largest school districts are being cautious in their return to school, as well.
Sixteen of the 20 largest U.S. school districts are starting the school year exclusively with distance learning, according to the news magazine Education Week.
However, some district leaders are waiting as long as possible before choosing an instruction mode.
ISD 728 in Elk River, Minn., for one, is hoping for new state data that would allow them to bring more students back to school. They’ve told families they’ll have an answer on Aug. 21 — 18 days before school starts.
“The only legal option ISD 728 has at this point is to declare a more restrictive model, which would be Hybrid or Distance Learning for all,” the district said in a message to families. “This outcome would not align with our preference of being back in school and face-to-face.”
