Wadsworth City School District Board of Education Meeting August 30, 2021

Current COVID-19 Data

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nUIT-3MybOkYOlv9foxZv7lqxQDe9iZt_WLkBNd5Tq8/edit

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August 29, 2020 through August 17, 2021 COVID-19 Data

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L6m2Ef2I0cFVcj7GuxrG3CPQbEceYJsPiP5eiGN_r3U/edit

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Current COVID-19 Data and the Impact in Each Building

Building: Total Enrollment: Number of Employees and Students Percent of Student Population in Isolation/Quarantine:

in Quarantine or Isolation:

Franklin 251 162 64.5%

Isham 378 1 0.3%

Lincoln 215 12 5.6%

Overlook 388 29 7.2%

Valley View 318 33 9.1%

CIS 654 128 19.6%

MS 669 32 4.2%

HS 1474 147 9.2%

Total: 4347 544 12.3%

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Medina County and State of Ohio COVID-19 Data

• You can view the current Medina County COVID-19 data by clicking here.

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• You can view the current State of Ohio COVID-19 data by clicking here.

Akron Area Superintendents’ Association

# of Districts # requiring masks for # requiring masks for # requiring masks for

Reporting: students under the age students 12 and older: employees:

of 12:

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19 2 2 2

Medina County School Districts

# of Districts # requiring masks for # requiring masks for # requiring masks for

Reporting: students under the age students 12 and older: employees:

of 12:

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7 0 0 0

Alliance for High Quality Education

# of Districts # requiring masks for # requiring masks for # requiring masks for

Reporting: students under the age students 12 and older: employees:

of 12:

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43 11 4 4

Other School District COVID-19 Data

District: First Student Day of School: # of Positive Cases: # in Quarantine: Face Coverings

Required:

1 August 18 26 29 No

2 August 18 6 80 No

3 August 18 7 63 No

4 16 15 (current not total) No

5 August 18 7 33 No

6 4 0 Yes

7 August 18 50 249 No

Other School Districts’ COVID-19 Data, Cont.

District: First Student Day of School: # of Positive Cases: # in Quarantine: Face Coverings

Required:

8 August 19 2 30 No

9 August 18 8 19 No

10 August 16 11 32 No

11 August 26 1 0 Yes

12 August 18 9 42 No

13 August 25 5 1 Yes

14 August 18 17 69 No

15 August 18 100 TBD No

16 August 18 25 94 No

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Other Things to Consider

• Conversations with our County Health Commissioner

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• Meeting with Governor DeWine and Dr. Vanderhoff

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Basis for our Current Return to School Plan

• We operated programs with hundreds of students all summer, without face coverings. We had very few COVID cases, and the cases we did experience were not linked together. Before the school year began, we had dealt with seven (7) cases since May 24, 2021. From May 24 through August 17, we finished the 2020-2021 school year, we operated summer school at the K-12 levels for weeks at a time, we held numerous camps, and we started athletics in grades 7-12.

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• In addition, the Ohio Department of Health rescinded the face covering Order on June 2. While their ability to issue new Orders now have timelines involved in how long the Orders can last without legislative action, it is my understanding that they can issue new Orders at the state level (Senate Bill 22). Governor DeWine shared at our meeting that the way his office interprets the new law, the legislature could reconvene and vote to remove an Order the same day he or the Director of Health issues one.

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Basis for our Current Return to School Plan, Cont.

• When we created our return to school plan for the 2020-2021 school year, we created it based upon the best local data we could. Our plan followed some of the ODH and CDC recommendations but not all (e.g., last year the recommended distance was six (6) feet, and we provided a minimum of three [3]); we followed all ODH Orders that were required by law. I share this because there appears to be a perception that all ODH and CDC recommendations were followed last school year.

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• In regards to the space between students, our goal is to provide as much as possible. That said, and just like last year, we only have so much physical space. Last school year close to twenty percent (20%) of our students (total student population is close to 4600) chose to be educated in our online option. So far for this school year, we have less than fifty (50) students K-12 enrolled in our online option. As a result, in each situation we are faced with during a school day, we have attempted to create as much space as the situation allows, but guaranteeing a minimum is not something we either can do or choose to do (e.g. teaching reading in the elementary level).

Basis for our Current Return to School Plan, Cont.

• Our goal was to provide a safe environment for our students and employees in a way that removes as many barriers as possible that may impact student learning. If we find that our experience in the new school year is different from what we have experienced at the end of last school year and this summer, we said we would have conversations about adjustments that may be needed to our plan. If the state or federal government issues Orders that are required by law, we will follow them as we have during the pandemic.

Actions to Consider

• Consider implementing district-wide face covering for a short, defined period of time as the peak continues. Consider making the face covering only for indoor settings. Set a date to re-evaluate the decision (e.g., two (2) weeks). This will allow many more students and/or employees to remain in school if they are a close contact to someone who tested positive because distance to the affected individual does not matter if a face covering is worn. Please note that if you choose to implement something like this, there may be a period of time before the quarantine numbers decrease because we have to contact trace two (2) days prior to symptom onset, which means cases this coming week may be traced back to contact last week.

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• Consider setting some type of threshold based upon number of cases and number in quarantine vs. overall building enrollment where the superintendent has the ability to implement face coverings for a short, defined period of time in that building.

Actions to Consider, Cont.

• Let our administrative team continue to work on different solutions to the lunch spacing issue.

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• Temporarily restrict some level of visitors to the buildings.

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• Continue to advocate for change with our health department and those in Columbus where the data suggests change should be considered.