DPS on track despite upturn

2 of 3 indicators tracked by Denver are in red zone

Although the number of COVID- 19 cases is on the rise in Denver, the circumstances are not concerning enough to change the plan to reopen Denver Public Schools, Superintendent Susana Cordova said Tuesday.

Cordova said she has been closely eyeing a district dashboard intended to evaluate the safety of reopening schools. Two of the three indicators DPS is tracking — the number of COVID- 19 cases and the trend in cases over a two- week period — are currently in the red zone. Fewer than three weeks ago, Denver’s positivity rate and COVID case trends were in the green zones, while the number of cases was in the yellow.

However, experts at Denver Health and the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment told DPS the upticks in both metrics are not cause for concern because they are limited to college communities, Cordova said.

“At this time, they’re not

concerned that this increase is an indication of widespread community spread,” she said, “and they have encouraged us to continue monitor this while we continue our slow, gradual, safe re- entry for in- person learning.”

In a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis acknowledged the state is seeing “significant outbreaks” among folks ages 18 to 25, including students at the University of Colorado Boulder, which recently moved all attendees to remote learning for two weeks in hopes of curbing the spread of the virus.

But positive cases are also increasing in every other age bracket “at a pretty rapid rate,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said. And that’s raising concerns about community spread.

“We’re not doing quite well enough,” Polis said. “We need to do a bit better, and that’s for the next several months.”

At more than 93,000 students, DPS is Colorado’s largest school district and one of the last to begin inperson classes. DPS began the fall semester remotely but is now phasing students in by grade for inperson learning — except for those whose families choose to stay remote. About 30% have enrolled in DPS’s 100% virtual schooling option, Cordova said.

The district’s preschools opened in mid- September. Starting Monday, kindergarteners, some first- graders and special education students in second through fifth grades will begin inperson classes.

The district will welcome back all first- grade students who are going in person starting Oct. 5. Secondthrough fifth- grade students will begin fulltime in- person learning Oct. 21 — the same day secondary schools will open and begin operating on a hybrid schedule for students who opt to attend in person.

Hybrid schedules may vary by school, Cordova said, but all will have a minimum of 10 hours of face- to- face instruction. Some plan to have students alternate attending in the mornings and in the afternoons, while others may have students alternate coming in on specific days. All students will supplement classes with remote work or virtual classes under the hybrid model.

Though the situation around COVID- 19 in Denver County remains suitable for in- person learning now, Cordova acknowledged that could change overnight. That’s why the district is trying to limit cohort sizes to about 35 students and will soon launch a DPS- specific COVID dashboard to keep families informed about cases that pop up.

“We wanted to make sure that our opening was erring on the conservative side with a more assertive stance of trying to limit the amount of disruptions that can happen because of quarantining,” Cordova said.