HYBRID CLASSES EYED FOR OCTOBER START
Some students in all grades would return part-time to classrooms by Oct. 26 under a plan presented by Isle of Wight Superintendent Jim Thornton.
The timetable is one of the fastest in the region.
Chesapeake hopes to bring back all students enrolled in hybrid learning by Nov. 16. Virginia Beach plans to bring sixth- and ninth-grade students on Oct. 8 but hasn’t set dates for other secondary students. Gloucester previously discussed a plan to have all grades back by mid-November.
Isle of Wight is seeing more cases per capita and a higher percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive than most of those localities, according to Virginia Department of Health data. But Thornton said at a
school board meeting Wednesday that low case counts in schools so far shows precautions are working.
“Regardless of what is happening in the community, we may be able to do a safe thing here,” Thornton said.
The school board initially voted to start the year with a hybrid option, two days a week online and two days a week in buildings, for elementary and middle school students in July. The board changed its decision to just pr e-K through third grade a few days later.
About 25% of students in those grades are in school buildings on any day, Thornton said, with about half of families choosing to stay online all of the first semester.
The district has seen five confirmed COVID -19 cases. None of them contracted it at school, according to Thornton, and they haven’t seen any outbreaks in buildings. About 27 people have quarantined after they were exposed to people inside or outside of schools with confirmed cases, including students on a bus after a person onboard tested positive.
“There are some cases where we have to tighten up,” Thornton said. “We are so used to touching our children, getting close to help them with a math problem.”
Per VDH data, about 5.9% percent of COVID-19 tests in the past two weeks from the county came back positive as of Tuesday. That puts the county at “moderate” risk of transmission in schools, according to thresholds established by the Centers for Disease Control.
About 219 cases per 100,000 people in the county were reported during that time period. Under the CDC guidelines, that means the county is at “highest risk” for transmission in schools. That data is part of a new COVID-19 community transmission dashboard VDH rolled out Monday.
Thornton pointed out that the county has seen those elevated numbers since before school started. That hasn’t translated to cases in schools.
“Those cases are going to occur in our community, and then they are going to come to school,” Thornton said. “You do have a possibility of a spread, but that’s where your mitigations hopefully control that.”
The school board voted 3-1 Wednesday to give Thornton the authority to make decisions about reopening without having to get approval again. Victoria Hulick voted against.
“I don’t think we are at a point where we should be reopening, especially as the weather gets colder and we’re more compacted in,” Hulick said.
The plan he laid out after the vote calls for bringing back cohorts one week at a time. Fourth and fifth grades will start Oct. 12, middle school students will start Oct. 19 and high school students will start Oct. 26.
Several board members voiced frustrations that they’ve heard from parents about virtual learning, particularly on the impact to mental health.
The board’s student liaison, Windsor High School student Leah Carroll, told the school board that she and her classmates want school board leaders to examine every side of the issue.
“Virtually learning just isn’t for everyone,” Carroll said. “I can speak to my experience without internet — there are undeniable struggles and disparities that need to be focused on.”