There are a few local exceptions. Jefferson Twp. schools and the Horizon Science Academies announced that masks are required for all students and staff inside school buildings. Oakwood schools are requiring masks for elementary school students and staff, as those students are under age 12 and therefore ineligible for the COVID vaccines.
Masks are still federally required for everyone on school buses. Montgomery County Educational Service Center Superintendent Shannon Cox said if people choose not to wear masks in school as well, student and staff quarantines are likely to be frequent again.
In a single week, rising COVID numbers led the University of Dayton, Wright State, the Dayton Metro Library and Cincinnati Public Schools to mandate masks indoors. It also led multiple local hospital groups to mandate that their employees get vaccinated.
“The biggest challenge we are currently facing is the unknowns of the pandemic,” said Huber Heights schools Public Relations Supervisor Cassaundra Dietrich. “So much of education is planning ahead, but the pandemic limits our ability to do that. ‘Subject to change’ has become a motto in a way.”
Start dates and COVID numbers
Lebanon, Kettering and Northmont schools begin classes this week, along with several local charter schools. The biggest back-to-school week is Aug. 16-20, with Dayton, Beavercreek, Centerville, Springboro and a host of other schools opening their doors. Valley View, Mad River and Piqua are among the handful of schools waiting until Sept. 7 to begin.
Just like last year, the Ohio Department of Health reported a surge of COVID cases and hospitalizations in July and early August, just before schools prepared to ramp back up. Tuesday through Thursday of this past week saw three straight days of at least 1,750 new COVID cases in Ohio — higher than any single-day number from July-September 2020 (but much lower than the huge spike last winter).
Last fall, the surge in COVID issues led many schools to delay start dates or move classes fully online. That’s not happening this fall, as education and medical groups are emphasizing the overall benefits of having kids in-person at school.
“Last year, it was almost like, we didn’t know what we didn’t know, and we were all in the same boat of just figuring it out as we go,” said Montgomery County Educational Service Center Superintendent Shannon Cox. “This year, we do know more, but the landscape is still changing under our feet.”
Health officials are still learning about the new COVID Delta variant. The CDC says it’s more contagious than the original strain. The Ohio Department of Health said Delta is making people sicker quicker, but vaccines are effective against it. The Cleveland Clinic says COVID cases among children have been steadily increasing, but that severe symptoms in kids are fairly rare.
Debate at the school level continues. The three NHA charter schools in Dayton did not settle on their mask policy (recommended but not required) until Friday afternoon, with classes set to begin Tuesday and Wednesday.
Centerville schools have had public debate at multiple school board meetings in the past few weeks over whether to mandate masks.
Some parents downplayed COVID risks and argued that masks frustrate their kids and hinder their learning. Other parents said they don’t want their children going to school around hundreds of unmasked students because of the continuing risk of getting and spreading COVID.
Superintendent Tom Henderson recommended a mask mandate for Centerville elementary students and staff Thursday, because vaccination opportunity for those students is likely still months away. A final decision on masks has not yet been announced.
Quarantine a major issue
A lot of the public focus on returning to school has been on masks, but quarantine is likely to be a big issue within weeks. Vaccinated students don’t have to quarantine after in-school contact with a COVID case in most situations.
But unvaccinated kids who are a close contact with a COVID case do have to quarantine unless they were masked and physically distanced (at least 3 feet). That makes mask-wearing a huge factor.
Oakwood schools said mandatory quarantines were “the single biggest disrupter to our students’ attendance and participation” last year. Several schools cited teachers struggling to educate students who were in the classroom, while simultaneously keeping in touch with an ever-rotating group of students who were yo-yoing in and out of quarantine for two weeks.
Staff quarantines are also a major worry. Cedar Cliff schools Superintendent Chad Mason said he’s “very concerned about quarantines” after heavy COVID quarantine numbers last year pushed his schools into online mode for awhile.
Fairborn schools had to pause busing last year because of bus drivers in quarantine, and several districts had teacher shortages when educators had to quarantine and subs were in limited supply.
Schools are trying to help families understand the quarantine rules ahead of time. Lebanon City Schools posted the Warren County Health Department’s quarantine rules for schools on their Facebook page Thursday. While the examples were specific and well-explained, there were multiple scenarios for people to wade through, and several people left confused responses in the comments.
Quarantine and online school
Cox said schools are in a tough spot because of public pressure, as well as new law at the state level.
“It’s one thing to say you heard your community, because there is a very loud voice saying do not put our kids back in masks,” she said. “It’s another thing to think about lack of staff because of quarantining, when the rules for online school have changed.”
Under new law passed this summer, Ohio K-12 schools who plan to continue an online option have to notify the state. The Ohio Department of Education asked schools to do so by Aug. 1, and 16 of 44 local districts had done so as of this week.
But that number includes multiple districts who said they only plan an online option for medically fragile students or others in special circumstances.
Springboro’s back-to-school plan says when students are in quarantine, teachers will post assignments on Google Classroom or another online platform. In many schools, it’s unclear how much teaching or support those students will get during their quarantine period.
“There’s a lot of ambiguity based on how things were done (in quarantine) last year, versus the new legislative options that were created this year that are very difficult to reconcile,” said Ohio Department of Education spokeswoman Mandy Minick.
Cox said last week that approaches to quarantine are varying from district to district and even among county health departments. That includes whether students have to show real proof of vaccination or not to avoid quarantine. She pointed to one superintendent east of Columbus who threatened to simply stop quarantining people in September.
COVID safety measures from school to school
While vaccination is considered the best measure to avoid COVID-19, with masking also very important, schools continue to take other steps as well.
Numerous schools who responded to a Dayton Daily News survey said hand sanitizer stations will be stocked, classrooms will be sanitized, and time for hand-washing will be allowed. The phrase “three feet of social distancing, as much as possible,” was used by several schools.
Other steps that schools are taking:
** Horizon Science High School will have students and staff do temperature checks when they enter the school.
** Oakwood will use air purifiers in classrooms and offices.
** Vandalia-Butler schools replaced all water fountains with water bottle filling stations.
** Northmont schools upgraded their air filtration systems to improve air quality.
** Covington schools installed a “GPS Bipolar Ionization Unit” to sanitize the air district-wide.
** Principal Lourdes Lambert said Alter High School will continue to keep desks in classrooms 6 feet apart, and will bring back and outdoor tent for senior lunches to create more space in the cafeteria.
** Springboro school officials said each school building will keep strict seating charts for buses, classes, and lunchrooms, in order to contact trace COVID cases and inform parents of the need to quarantine.
** Kettering schools spokeswoman Kari Basson said plexiglass and plastic tabletop dividers will not return to school cafeterias, as those were not as effective as school officials hoped.” But she said “in those classrooms where it will be difficult to socially distance, students will likely continue to use the partitions.”
** Lebanon is among the schools reminding parents that being in a public place like a school “has a certain level of risk that cannot be eliminated.” The district also is not making social distancing a top priority.
“Where it makes sense, teachers will space students 3 feet apart, but there are no expectations to limit instructional opportunities in order to social distance,” the district’s return to school guide says. “Students will be in pairs, small groups, assemblies, etc. just as they were prior to the pandemic.”
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