Dear Employees, Families and Community Leaders,

 

At the School Board Meeting today at 5:30 p.m., we will discuss the potential for a change to the hybrid plan for Perrysburg Schools. During the meeting, we will share specific building and district data and trends related to COVID-19 as well as the latest state data from the Ohio Department of Health. The meeting may be live-streamed and viewed afterward via the school district’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEr96UIvnUDDfHDqIU5PfLw..

 

First, I want to share how proud I am of the job that all of you have been doing to make this year so successful for the students we serve, their families and the entire community. Each and every day, we see successes in the classrooms and in after school activities. And while we all continue to face the challenges of living amidst a global pandemic, I believe the success we’ve had in this first quarter is worth celebrating. From the Governor’s announcement on July 2 where he gave guidance for schools to reopen to where we are today with our first quarter completed in the hybrid model, I am so proud of where we are, especially considering some thought prior to the start of the school year that we would not be able to remain open for more than a week.

 

When we announced our back to school plan in August, we shared that: “We want students to return to school every day.” This goal has not changed.

 

As we crafted our hybrid plan, we considered many important aspects such as student and employee safety, child development, flexibility regarding instructional delivery models and the ability to maintain excellent academic options and programming. As we prepare to discuss the next steps of our plan, we are continuing to keep these and other important parameters in mind.

 

Now, with an entire quarter of instruction and extracurriculars completed, it is time for the school district to review the data and discuss our next steps. I wanted to share some of the information that we will present to the Board and community at the Board Meeting this evening.

 

What we will be proposing is, as long as our numbers remain where they are now in relation to COVID-19, to have PJHS shift from a hybrid model where students attend 2 days a week with 50% of their peers to one where all PJHS students attend Tuesday through Friday. Essentially, we are asking the Board to consider shifting PJHS to a schedule that mirrors the one HPI is currently using. For PHS, we will be evaluating the progress at PJHS and, if successful, we will ask the Board to consider following a similar schedule of that of HPI and PJHS. Here is the timeline for presenting these considerations to the Board:

 

 

I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of the data points that will be discussed at the Board Meeting.

 

HPI has two grade levels that have been back for face-to-face instruction four days a week. We now have a quarter’s (nine weeks’) worth of data. In what has been, admittedly, our most challenging building due to the number of students, two full grade levels and the challenges to maximize social distancing in the classroom, we have had remarkable results. In nine weeks, we have had two students positive for COVID-19, and thirty students sent home with COVID-19-like symptoms. With the exception of one student testing positive in week 7 that resulted in 40 students having to quarantine, each week the school has experienced single-digit quarantines.

 

Based on these data points, we are asking if this is the right time to bring back all members of the two grades at PJHS four days per week.

 

PJHS has two grade levels, 7 and 8, but has only had 50% of the students attending two days per week. PJHS has less “cohorting” ability than HPI, the ability to keep students in smaller groups, which limits exposure. Because of the scheduling options available to junior high students, there would be more mixing of students. Also at PJHS, there has been a fall sports season, which mixes PJHS students internally and externally during competitions. We now have a quarter’s (nine weeks’) worth of data.

 

The first quarter data shows that the hybrid plan has been working very well at PJHS. In nine weeks, we have had 3 students positive for COVID-19 and 28 students sent home with COVID-19-like symptoms. Besides one student testing positive in week 7 that resulted in 47 students having to quarantine, each week the building has experienced a manageable amount of quarantines.

 

We believe part of the success that we have had at PJHS is due to maximizing social distancing in the classroom where students are often 6 feet or more apart.

 

By having all 7^th and 8^th graders return, we would expect the number of students having to quarantine will increase when/if a positive case occurs. While reducing the amount of social distancing that can occur with more students, we can assume that the results we may experience will be similar to HPI.

 

To date, students in grades K-6 are face-to-face four days a week. If PJHS were to align with the same schedules for teachers and students in grades K-6, at the semester we would have data on this instructional model in grades K-8. This is critical in assessing if we should continue with this plan in grades K-8 and if we should also implement it in grades 9-12.

 

At PHS, much like PJHS, the hybrid plan has been very effective at reducing both the spread of COVID-19 and disruptions to the learning process by quarantining students and employees. The number of students positive for COVID-19 and being quarantined are similar to PJHS. In nine weeks, we have had 13 students positive for COVID-19, and 55 students sent home with COVID-19-like symptoms. Weeks two and four saw our greatest number of students quarantined and, in both cases, the number of students in the classroom having to quarantine was small. However, extracurriculars and lunch saw the largest number of students being exposed.

 

For employees over the first quarter, nine have been positive for COVID-19 and just one of those was in the last four weeks.

 

As we have shared throughout this process beginning in March, we must be flexible. This conversation about next steps reflects this attitude. Likewise, if we see increases in student-to-student, student-to-employee or employee-to-student spread begin to occur, the health department shared that they would become very concerned and the school district may need to return to the Tuesday/Thursday and Wednesday/Friday hybrid plan. Also, if the amount of quarantines increases and it disrupts the school’s ability to staff classrooms, this may cause the school district to return to the two-day model. Of course, if at any time there is an order to close schools, we would comply. We will continue to monitor building and district data.

 

We will be very busy over the next two weeks working with the PJHS administration and employees preparing for these potential transitions. There are several issues that we would need to work through, such as maximizing social distancing in classrooms, lunchrooms and other common areas. The team will also look at redesigning electives to accommodate more students. Also, coordination will need to take place to address those courses offered at PHS that rely on shared employees.

 

At this time, we are not aware of any student-to-student, student-to-teacher or teacher-to-student spread. If we begin to experience spread in the classrooms, the school district may revert to the two-day model.

If there were considerable and/or repeated disruptions (such as being unable to staff a building and/or large percentages of students quarantined at a time or multiple times), the school district may revert to the two-day model.

 

I want to assure faculty, staff members and families that we are approaching this with a great deal of thought, reflection and consideration. We are engaged in continual dialogue with health experts. We are also concerned about the academic, emotional and social wellbeing of all of our students. Having a thoughtful discussion to consider taking this next step is appropriate. The options being considered are based on what we have experienced in the past nine weeks. It is a calculated and measured step forward.

 

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Hosler

Superintendent

Perrysburg Schools