Managing COVID-19 not an easy task for schools

With the return of in-person learning on Oct. 5, Niwot schools and the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) are working to manage the impact of COVID-19 on their school communities. It has not proven to be an easy or simple task.

This month, SVVSD implemented a COVID-19 tracker to keep the public informed about new and existing cases that have been documented during the current school year. The tracker segregates cases between students and staff, and between cases that are currently active and cumulative cases (active and recovered) for the entire school year.

Through Oct. 17, a total of 43 active and recovered cases have been reported in the entire district, which maintains a student count of 31,435 and a staff count of 5,132. There are no reported cases at Niwot Elementary, and two each reported at Niwot High and Sunset Middle Schools. According to the tracker, these cases affected students, not teachers or staff.

Schools in the surrounding municipalities of Erie, Frederick, Longmont and Mead are also experiencing active cases. Per the tracker, both Erie and Silver Creek High Schools have one active student case each, while Timberline K-8, Mead High School and Legacy Elementary School have a single active case each among their staff members.

SVVSD case notification process

In terms of notifying the community, school district spokesperson Kerri McDermid said, "All teachers, staff, and families will receive an email communication whenever a confirmed case of COVID-19 impacts their school community."

The district's website further explained that for cases identified in the school environment, Boulder County Public Health has assigned an epidemiologist and several contact tracers to the district who will work with nurses and leadership to establish next steps. McDermid said that if, through contract tracing, some members of the school community need to quarantine, they'll be alerted through the district's Infinite Campus email, voicemail, and text message notifications.

This procedure was followed for a student or staff case recently identified at Niwot High School. The school community received notices Thursday evening, though the tracker had not been updated with the information as of Saturday morning. Identifying information about the case, including whether the affected person was a student or a staff member, their gender, and their class, was not provided, presumably due to privacy concerns.

Since its launch, the district's Covid-19 tracker has gone through several formatting changes. One of the earliest formats showed current cases as opposed to those reported after classes resumed, a format which would have highlighted the impact of in-person learning on case increases.

Cases in private and charter schools

The district's tracker does not include data for charter or private schools, recommending that community members check with the charter or private school administration for that information. One Niwot private school, Boulder Valley Waldorf School, is experiencing an outbreak. Their numbers are reflected in the Boulder County Public Health outbreak dashboard at covid19.colorado.gov/covid19-outbreak-data

Concerning the outbread, Boulder Valley Waldorf School director, Daniel Hindes said, "Approximately three weeks ago on the weekend we were notified of a positive test result in a student. We immediately notified the Boulder County Health Department and quarantined the cohort. About a week later we were notified of an additional positive test result from a quarantined student. The second student to test positive is presumed to have acquired the virus while at school. This qualifies under CDPHE guidelines as an outbreak. A third student in that cohort also tested positive and may or may not have acquired the infection while at school. The third student is listed as a probable case."

Hindes added all three students remained asymptomatic and that no further cases were reported in that cohort. After quarantining for 14 days the cohort has resumed in-class instruction. Hindes also expressed "gratitude to the health departments and school community members to be providing opportunities for in-person learning in a safe way during this health crisis."

Responses to COVID-19 school safety concerns

There has been a wide breadth of reactions to school safety concerns related to COVID-19. At its most recent board meeting, the district received strong input from parents who continued to advocate for a return to in-person learning. The parents cite frustrations about implementing the online model at home, teacher workloads, and the need for children to engage with teachers and their peers in a real-world environment.

At the same time, as other parents look to use home-based options, the district's entirely remote, LaunchED program is experiencing growth. An online letter sent to LaunchEd parents this Friday revealed that program administrators were working to enroll over 800 new students since the announcement of the district's transition to hybrid learning. They are hiring and training new teachers and staff in response. The program previously had about 3,200 students enrolled.

As the school year moved to the hybrid learning model, many teachers and staff considered their own safety at work. McDermit explained some of the district's policies for staff who were unable to be in classrooms due to COVID. She said that if teachers are required to quarantine, they would be able to teach remotely, and if they are fully unable to work, leave for them is available through the Families First Coronavirus response act.

COVID-19 prevention in schools

Schools throughout the district and in Niwot are taking care to minimize cases spreading. In addition to splitting class attendance in half and requiring attendance on just two days a week, details from the district's website show that schools have made plenty of hand sanitizer available, require mask wearing, require social distancing, and have spaced seating in classrooms.

The district has increased cleaning requirements and hired extra custodial staff to support cleaning efforts. There are also directional markers on the floors so that students are walking in the same direction and keep to the right, which should minimize close contact and the potential to exchange droplets between students.

Even with all of these precautions, one thing that the district is clear on is that things may change again as health needs dictate. While the goal is to return to 100% in-person learning, students and teachers may need to make a return to online-only learning if necessary. As the difficult school year continues, administrators will be watching COVID-19 case changes closely, placing the safety of students, teachers, and staff first.