Making decisions about whether schools should use in-person, distance-learning, or a hybrid educational model for the rest of the year is difficult. There are so many things to take into consideration. Here’s my best shot at distilling down the key elements that they should consider as they make these critically important decisions.
Community Spread Metrics
Governing board members should pay attention to the level of community spread in their district as part of the decision-making matrix. The elements to include are the case rate (cases per 100,000) and percent positivity. Those 2 metrics that the ADHS used are solid and can be used to inform decisions.
Those metrics are located on the state’s schools dashboard. Governing board members should totally ignore the Covid-like illness metric as it as an inappropriate metric to use and considering it will lead to poor decisions.
Mitigation Track Record
They should consider how well their mitigation plan has been working this far. Have they had a cascade of cases occurring after index cases, or has contact tracing and swift return to distance learning for close contacts prevented case cascades? What about athletics? Have the mitigation measures been working for those programs? What about differences in the grades? Is the mitigation plan working for some grades and not others?
I’ve talked to folks who are seeing the plan work well in K-8 but poorly in High Schools. Also, most HS kids can benefit more from distance learning when compared to younger elementary kids… so, the benefit should be examined. Perhaps K-8 should stay in person, and 9-12 go distance in districts and schools that are having case cascades in high schools. What I’m getting at here is that Governing Board members should look at the track record for mitigation and assess how it’s going and consider that in their decision-making.
Community Characteristics and Beliefs
What are the opinions of community members, teachers, staff and parents? Listen to those voices. Take into consideration the level of multi-generational families there are living in the district/school. In-person school heightens the risk of bringing the virus home to older family members. Also, think about what the home resources are. Some districts/schools have fewer home resources like Wi-Fi and access to computers. Those students will benefit more from in person learning.
There’s no easy answer to what to do as a governing board member- but my best advice is to weigh these three “legs of the stool” to balance risks and benefits- with a keen eye to balancing both the benefits and risks when making these important decisions.