The case for maintaining hybrid model at Westhill
Research shows current mitigation methods utilized by school districts to limit the spread of COVID-19 provide the greatest protection to students and staff from contracting the disease. While there is considerable research supporting the benefits to students for full in-person learning, research has largely compared distance learning with full in-person education.
Currently, Stamford high school students are in the hybrid model. Issues regarding full in-person learning need to be addressed when comparing the models. Several studies reach similar conclusions; that in-person learning is best for students. However, many districts returning to full in-person learning are not challenged by the same issues. Westhill High School has a myriad of issues affecting full in-person learning. Overcrowding and poor ventilation have serious implications.
Teacher objections and should not be mistaken for perceptions that teachers care more about themselves than students. Hybrid and distance learning student learning have made teaching more complicated. Teachers care about their students and want what is best for them. According to the CDC, the vast majority of cases involving teens are generally considered community acquired transmission. Less than 10 percent of cases are thought to be school-acquired. And the majority of these cases generally occur following a holiday or break, when students were visiting friends and family. The proportion of COVID-19 cases within a school district closely match that of the community. Community rates must factor into this decision.
The CDC advises schools to stay in a remote learning model if community levels of COVID-19 are high. “Given the likely association between levels of community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in schools, a first step in determining when and how to reopen safely involves assessing the level of community transmission.” And “If community transmission is high, students and staff are more likely to come to school while infectious, and COVID-19 can spread more easily in schools.” Levels of the COVID-19 virus in Stamford are 35.7 per 100,000 people which exceeds the recommended level for in-person instruction according to CDC guidance. The CDC has not mandated schools move to a remote learning model and Stamford has only done so on one occasion. Currently, Fairfield County is seeing another surge in cases.
Current changes to CDC guidelines for schools now recommend social distancing of at least 3 feet. In the case of overcrowded schools such as Westhill High School, maintaining that distance in hallways and classrooms is nearly impossible. The Freshmen Building is a good example. The classrooms were designed to hold 25 students. As the need arose to increase class size, capacity was increased to 30. Best practices for COVID-19 mitigation procedures emphasize the need for well ventilated rooms with open windows. Many rooms at Westhill have no, or few windows, that are effective at creating proper air flow. Also, the ventilation system at Westhill has been a source of mold exposure. The ventilation system air handlers in the summer of 2020 was equipped with filters that have a MERV rating of 8, not the CDC recommended rating of 13. Only filters with a MERV factor of 13 or greater can stop the spread of the micron size virus. The role of airborne transmission of the virus was determined to play a strong role in the spread of COVID-19.
With warmer weather approaching, air flow and room temperature will have an impact on mitigation measures as well. Students in classrooms with poor ventilation and elevated temperature will face more difficulties while wearing masks. Studies show that room “ambient temperature and humidity has implications for the very important, and as yet unresolved, questions regarding seasonal and geographic variations in transmission rates.”
Research concluded that elementary school children are at low risk with regard to spreading of the virus. High school students are a different story. Teens are relatively asymptomatic for the disease while remaining infectious.
Some studies demonstrate that older children carry as much viral load as adults. Further, the prevalence and disease transmission of the virus goes largely undetected in adolescents who are asymptomatic or have such mild symptoms that they are not even tested. Teens are not being tested and there is a “large discrepancy between detected cases and true infections in schools due to the combination of high asymptomatic rates in children coupled with delays in seeking testing and receiving results from diagnostic tests.” Furthermore, the same study concluded that “reopening schools without surveillance testing and contact tracing measures in place will lead to spread within the schools and within the communities that eventually forces a return to remote learning and leaves a trail of infection in its wake.”
While most students are at low risk, others are at heightened risk due to a higher than average BMI and pre-existing conditions. These students are also more likely to spread the virus to others. Connecticut currently has 28.7 percent of students qualifying as overweight or obese.
Another area of concern would be the resulting need for many students to quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure. According to the current CDC guidelines, the number of students who will need to be quarantined will increase with full in-person learning. Students currently are experiencing lowmood, high anxiety and deficient coping skills. They have frequent feelings of fear and apprehension about the virus and what may happen next.
Westhill High School last week had seven people test positive while 33 were quarantined. These numbers will increase substantially as the social distancing parameters set forth of 3 feet cannot be maintained. The emotional disconnection that students are facing is challenging at best. There have been many reports of the mental toll that this pandemic has had on our youth. High levels of stress and anxiety caused an increase level of emotional distress. Some studies suggest this impact could have a longterm impact on their mental health.
The only logical course of action is to remain in the hybrid model. From a mental health perspective, students are struggling personally to deal with the pandemic, the impact it has had on their family and friends and their real fear of uncertainty in their future. While learning has been impacted, what we are teaching our children right now, how to persevere and overcome tragedy. We are demonstrating to them that through collective reasoning and use of medical information we can come together. Further, a great deal of learning has taken place while going hybrid. Students are in class every other day, exchanging ideas with others and connect with classmates. Right now, they are at low risk because proper mitigation methods can be employed, such as social distancing, mask-wearing and use of hand-sanitizer. Opening up the school to overcrowding may create yet another situation where fear and anxiety can impact any current sense of safety and security that they have. With only eight weeks remaining in the school year for our high school students, do we really want our teens to endure more stress and uncertainty?