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Two weeks after making the decision to temporarily transition to 100-percent online learning and a week after ceasing in-person classes, students at Perry County School District had their second first day of school on Monday.
PCSD superintendent Andy Comstock said the brief shift in learning was part of the district’s initial reopening plan, but after seeing it in action and based on consultation with the Perry County Health Department, that plan will see some changes moving forward.
“Everything’s going well,” Comstock said Tuesday. “I’m glad to be back, glad to have our kids back. We’re working on new plans for reassessing, reevaluating. As I stated in my release to parents last week, new information results in having to reevaluate where we’re at.”
Comstock announced plans to resume in-person classes under the school’s yellow level in a letter emailed to parents Friday.
“I would be a fool if, when presented with new information from [the state Department of Health and Senior Services, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] and our local health department, I did not reevaluate our current plan to address COVID-19,” Comstock said in the letter. “Guidance presented by those organizations on Sept. 9 has indicated that a single measure of risk is not the most prudent path. Therefore, after consultation with local health officials, we are utilizing this guidance to more clearly illustrate our decisions moving forward.”
The initial decision to suspend in-person learning, Comstock said, was tied to the health department’s decision to increase the county’s risk assessment level from “moderate” to “moderately high” and a reported increase in community spread.
Following the district’s initial plan, that also increased the district’s risk level, leading to the suspension of classes.
“When we put our plan together back in July, the conventional wisdom was that if we had community spread of that much, then having kids coming to our schools would just basically be an incubator for passing the virus among different parts of the county,” said Comstock, adding that, based on what the district observed in the days following the decision, that wasn’t the case. “It became apparent that obviously our assumptions in July were incorrect. We also got further guidance from DSE and DHS that you should not have a global shutdown or a district-wide shutdown; that you should look at classrooms, buildings and whatever. And that’s basically what our plan is.”
According to Comstock, health department director Sylvia Forester confirmed that the mitigating procedures in place at PCSD are rigorous enough to keep children and staff safe in the current conditions, and that a more targeted approach in the case of outbreaks among students and staff would be more appropriate.
In other words, Comstock said, the district could in the case of a possible outbreak — potentially move a particular classroom, grade level or building to online learning rather than applying the same restrictions to the entire district.
“The impact of the community spread is different at each level,” Comstock said. “Depending on the situation, the high school could continue having classes while the middle school is closed, or vice-versa.”
The revised plan, once complete, will also include provisions related to staffing issues — for example, suspending a bus route when there aren’t enough drivers — extracurricular activities and so forth
Comstock, who outlined some of his new strategies in Friday’s letter, said the new plan will require a greater level of adaptability for students and parents.
“I know it hasn’t been easy for anyone, but I’m incredibly proud of our students, teachers and staff for making our schools so safe,” Comstock said in the letter.
