Delay possible for in-person classes in OKC
A return to in-person learning for young students in Oklahoma City Public Schools hinges on this week's local COVID-19 rates.
The school district plans to bring pre-K and kindergarten students back for face-to-face classes on Oct. 19 with a hybrid schedule. However, if the per-capita rate of COVID-19 increases in Oklahoma County, the return could be delayed.
Oklahoma City schools started the academic year Aug. 31 with all students in virtual classes.
Superintendent Sean McDaniel said during a Monday school board meeting the district could push the return date for pre-K and kindergarten to Nov. 9 if this week's rate of new cases in Oklahoma County reaches the alert level of Orange Level 2, defined as 25 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. The state Health Department will release new county data on Friday.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education recommends schools “give serious consideration” to online learning when their home county reaches Orange Level 2, according to the agency' s C OVID -19 Alert System.
Oklahoma County was at Orange Level 1 last week with 22.6 cases per 100,000, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
If the county remains at Orange Level 1 or below this week, the district will move forward with the Oct. 19 return date for pre-K and kindergarten. After two weeks at Orange Level 1, the district wouldn't consider postponing their return unless Oklahoma County escalates to Red Level —50 cases per 100,000 — on Oct. 16.
"We're trying to pay attention to trends," McDaniel said while speaking with media on Tuesday. "Our youngest children need to be the first ones back if we can arrange that safely and responsibly. They need to acclimate to a school setting, particularly kindergarteners who have never been in a school and certainly our pre-K kids. If we can get a head start for them, we want to do that safely, responsibly on the 19th."
If pre-K and kindergarten students wait until Nov. 9, they would intersect with the target return date for the rest of the district's student population. Students in first through 12th grade also are expected to return on Nov. 9 in a hybrid schedule.
The district currently has 31,550 students enrolled. Schools will split all students into either Group A or B to attend classes in-person two days a week.
McDaniel announced a change to the proposed A/B schedule on Tuesday. Rather than having Group A attend on Mondays and Tuesdays and Group B on Thursdays and Fridays as the district originally intended, administrators created a schedule that allows students to have direct contact with teachers every other day.
On Mon days, all Oklahoma City students will be in remote learning with live teaching sessions online. Group A will attend school in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays and will complete online assignments on their own time on Wednesdays and Fridays. Group B will come in person on Wednesdays and Fridays and complete online schoolwork on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Although Wednesday is no longer a day for deep cleaning, each school still will have daily disinfecting and a deep clean once a week, McDaniel said.
Families will learn Wednesday evening whether their children are in Group A or B through an email and phone call.
The new schedule adds an extra day of direct instruction each week. Remote teaching on Mondays will allow teachers to start the week with all students on the same page, McDaniel said.
"Setting the stage on Monday was a critical aspect of our A/B schedule," he said ." It' s really, really important that we start the week off in that remote setting all together."