Cincinnati Public Schools plans to phase back into in-person school starting in February.
Gov. Mark DeWine has said adults working in K-12 schools who want to return or remain educating in person can start receiving vaccines Feb. 1. The state’s goal is to have schools return to in-person learning by March 1.
The CPS Board of Education met Saturday morning to discuss what the district’s return to in-person learning would look like.
“Whether or not we get there depends on what happens along the way, but at least we have a starting point,” board president Carolyn Jones said.
In order to ensure that CPS staff is included in Phase 1B vaccinations in early February, the district will sign the “Notice of Intent” commitment form, required by the State of Ohio. This form indicates that the district will return to a learning model that includes some in-person learning by March.
The board heard presentations from Cincinnati Health Department epidemiologist Maryse Amin and Dr. Robert Kahn, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's associate chair of community health, in the state of COVID-19 in the city and its school districts, as well as a new study on the need of children exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine.
Amin reported the city of Cincinnati was seeing 65 daily new cases per 100,000 as of Jan. 14.
The CPS plan
CPS students switched to full-time distance learning Nov. 23 after COVID-19 cases started to rise in the Cincinnati area. According to a plan for returning to blended learning that Superintendent Laura Mitchell presented to the board Dec. 16, the district switched to distance learning when the average was 40 new cases per 100,000 because of staffing concerns.
Blended learning was supposed to start again Jan. 4, but a statement on the CPS website said the board of education voted to extend distance learning past that date at a Dec. 2 meeting, with a potential return to blended learning pushed to the end of January.
The plan Mitchell presented, of which the majority of members expressed approval, stated if the daily average returned to 40 new cases for two weeks, specialized classrooms for as well as preschool through third grade could return to classrooms in a blended schedule the week of Feb. 1.
If there were no problems staffing the in-person classrooms, and average daily new cases dropped to 30 per 100,000 for two weeks, grades four through eight would return to classrooms the week of Feb. 15. If the 30-cases trend continued, grades nine through 12 would go back to in-person learning by March 1.
CPS quarantine guidelines changing
The plan would also update quarantine guidelines to match Ohio Department of Health recommendations that were changed in December. These updates allow shorter duration quarantines while taking into consideration symptom monitoring and negative test results.
DeWine announced Dec. 30 Ohio students who were exposed to the coronavirus in the classroom while following state protocols were no longer required to quarantine. This was because a new study indicated there was "no discernable difference" between infection rates of students who were in close contact with another student with the virus and those who were not exposed.
"This is an incredible study," Kahn said.
Still, he said he did have some questions about the study that he would ask the board to consider, including if every close contact case was included in the study and how the study would factor in the new variant of the coronavirus.
Walnut Hills students still distance-learning
The board did not determine when classes would return to in-person classes five days a week, although multiple members expressed support for getting back to five days.
The only exception listed in the plan was Walnut Hills High School, which would still do distanced learning due to classroom size constraints. Several board members said they were concerned that given current guidelines, it would take longer for Walnut Hills students to get back into classrooms than their peers.
“In order for this to work, for phase in for all kids, we still have to address the specific and unique needs of Walnut,” Jones said. “That’s just a reality.”
Mitchell said she would look into options regarding reducing distance in classrooms from six to three feet in order to allow Walnut Hills students to attend in-person classes and would present them to the board later.
Staff vaccination plan outlined
CPS human resources director Paul McDole presented the district’s plan for vaccinating employees. According to the CPS website, the district has about 6,500 full- and part-time employees.
“When it’s time for the vaccine to be available to our staff, we want to be ready,” McDole said.
The first staff members to receive vaccines would be specialized classroom teachers and paraprofessionals who work with students who might not always be able to wear masks. Custodians would be next to get the vaccine since they clean school buildings.
Preschool and kindergarten staff would be the third group vaccinated, followed by high school staff and elementary school staff. Administrative staff that does not work primarily in school buildings would be vaccinated last.
Five CPS locations will be used as vaccination sites for staff: Sands Montessori School in Mount Washington, Shroder High School in Oakley, Midway School in Westwood, Roberts Academy in East Price Hill and Dater Montessori School in Westwood. McDole said the plan is to use the buildings on Saturdays.
“We truly hope as these four weeks progress that we will be able to open up more sites when the vaccine become more readily available,” he said.
Taking the vaccine is voluntary for CPS staff, McDole said. Benefits-eligible employees who receive the vaccine can receive $250 in points in their wellness plan.
McDole said the district sent oan email to staff Friday surveying their interest in the vaccine and collecting information about their preferred vaccine location. Once staff members are eligible to be vaccinated, they will be notified via email and able to sign up for their appointments.
The board of education's next meeting will be livestreamed at 4 p.m. Jan. 20.
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