The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
TITANS GET TESTED, NO RETURN DATE YET
With remote learning, 2 of 149 students tested positive for novel coronavirus
Lorain City Schools had two cases of the novel coronavirus among 149 students tested Oct. 15 and 16, according to the district’s new data website for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The students came out for mandatory testing before tryouts for winter sports and other close-contact activities.
Testing continued Oct. 20 and will be part of the resumption of in-person classes for Lorain Schools, said CEO/Superintendent Jeff Graham.
On Oct. 19, Graham spoke to Lorain City Council, and after that, published an email update on the latest information dealing with COVID-19.
Lorain Schools does not yet have a firm date to enter Phase 2 of its Open with Care plan.
Currently, Lorain students and faculty are in Phase 1, using remote learning with online resources and teachers communicating via computer.
Phase 2 would be a hybrid model with parents having options to continue remote learning or sending children back to their classrooms.
Graham again stated the district will notify families at least 30 days out when there is a return date for school.
More tests coming
Once the student-athletes are tested, Lorain Schools will add more dates and times for free COVID-19 testing for more students and staff, Graham said.
The district will publish the results on a new data dashboard available through lorainschools.org.
Lorain Schools will be part of a study with Dr. Prakash Ganesh, assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health School of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Ganesh will study the transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
Participation in this study, when it begins, will be completely optional, with more details to come, Graham said.
As of Oct. 19, Lorain Schools had two students and four staff members test positive for presence of the novel coronavirus.
Some have argued the low incidence of COVID in Lorain students and staff shows the Lorain Titans safely could resume fall sports.
Graham countered that Lorain Schools appears to have low presence of the disease, but there were no definitive numbers because the district had no regimen of testing.
Graham told Council the testing will allow the district to notify families quickly if students test positive for COVID-19.
It also will allow the district to test its mitigation strategies to slow the spread of the disease, he said.
Time for testing
By noon, Oct. 20, there were fewer students and parents arriving at George Daniel Field for testing, than on the previous days, said Jeff Keruski, executive director of family engagement.
Keruski coordinated the drive-up tests with Laura Delambo, school nurse coordinator for the district. But, there were a few. Elizabeth Long brought Amaya Smith, 12, a seventhgrader at Lorain’s General Johnnie Wilson Middle School.
Amaya said she wants to play basketball and Long said her daughter misses going to school.
School nurse Marla Davis used the swab in Smith’s nose in a process that lasted just a few seconds.
“It didn’t feel that bad, but you felt like something was — you had an itch,” Amaya said.
“Like, a tickle in your nose,” Long said. “More awkward, probably.”
Saying thanks
Graham noted the community and staff survey results that showed families and staff did not feel ready to resume in-person classes in a safe way.
In his comments and the newsletter, Graham thanked the city leaders, Lorain County Public Health, Mercy Health and the Lorain Schools parents, students and staff for their cooperation.
“No one in our district is doing a job that’s consistent with their job description, just like many of you in your workplace,” Graham said. “No one has complained; everyone has stepped up and gone beyond just to make sure that our families have what they need in these crazy times, and our teachers have taught each other how to do the remote learning, face-to-face via computers.”