This Johnson County district plans to have all students back in classrooms next month
Blue Valley is poised to become the first of Johnson County’s largest school districts to bring older students back into classrooms.
District officials announced plans to allow middle and high school students in school buildings starting Oct. 5 in a hybrid model, learning in classrooms part of the time and learning online the rest of the week. That same day, the district plans to bring elementary students back to in-person learning, five days a week.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have said multiple times we want to bring students back to school in-person in some form as soon as we can safely do so. I am pleased to share that based on current transmission rates in our community, that time is now,” Superintendent Tonya Merrigan said in the announcement.
Even without older students learning in person, the district has reported several COVID-19 cases at its high schools. During the first week of school, Blue Valley High School reported seven cases, then three cases last week, according to district data.
Blue Valley North reported two cases last week. Blue Valley West reported three cases the first week, then two cases last week. And Blue Valley Southwest reported one case last week. Even though high school students have not returned to classrooms, staff have worked in school buildings, and high school sports continue.
Health officials instructed more than 100 people to quarantine for 14 days after being exposed to a positive case at Timber Creek Elementary School in Overland Park. The school reported three cases last week, according to district data.
In the county’s three largest districts — Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Olathe — older students have been taking online classes since the start of the school year. That follows the recommendation of public health officials, who have warned against allowing the students to return to classrooms due to the high level of COVID-19 transmission in the region.
Elementary students have been learning in a hybrid model. Health officials have said research shows they are less likely to transmit the virus and they may not be safe staying home alone.
The De Soto school district, on the other hand, started the school year with all students in classrooms part-time — a decision the school board made that reversed administrators’ plan to start with all students learning online.
Both Blue Valley and De Soto are following the Kansas State Department of Education’s criteria for safely reopening schools. The De Soto school board last month decided the district was in the “yellow” zone per the criteria, allowing them to bring students back to classrooms. At that time, Blue Valley, examining the same criteria, decided it was in the “orange” zone, which would require older students to learn online.
But this week, Blue Valley officials said the district is now in the “yellow” zone. At that level, the state recommends that all-school activities and high-risk activities, such as football, be suspended. But the district is allowing high school sports to continue.
The state criteria include several key metrics for districts to examine when determining whether to allow students in classrooms. They include:
▪ The county positivity rate, or the average percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over a 14-day period. On Tuesday, Johnson County’s rate was 12.4%, which falls under the “orange” zone. The rate would need to be under 10% to fall in the “yellow” zone.
▪ The number of new cases per 100,000 people in the community. In the past seven days, the county reported 116 new cases per 100,000 people, which is in the “orange” zone. That number would need to be below 100 to fall in the “yellow” zone.
▪ The infection rate trend. In Johnson County, the number of new daily cases over the past two weeks has been decreasing, which falls in the “green” zone.
▪ Hospital capacity. Health officials have said that metric remains stable in the county, and data compiled by the Mid-America Regional Council puts the county in the “green” zone.
▪ The last metric is the two-week absentee rate — or the percentage of students absent from school compared to the same rate last year — in each building. A rate of 10% higher than the previous year would put the district in the “red” zone, although that data has not been released yet.
Blue Valley has formed a committee of administrators and medical professionals to examine the metrics, with a focus on COVID-19 cases within the district, and determine which zone the district falls under.
The Olathe district said that elementary and early childhood students will return to full-time, in-person learning starting Sept. 28. The district is still determining when to bring older students back to class. The school board will meet on Oct. 1 to discuss its plans.
In Shawnee Mission, Superintendent Mike Fulton previously said that all students will continue learning remotely through Oct. 2. After that, elementary students will slowly be reintroduced into classrooms. First, they’ll learn in a hybrid model. By Oct. 19, district officials hope that elementary students will be allowed to fully return to class.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 12:28 PM.
