Schools provide COVID info

Jay School Board took the opportunity Thursday to provide some COVID-19 clarity.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley, head nurse Nancy Snyder and Jay County Health Department official Heath Butz explained the corporation’s current policies and procedures for determining who is excluded from school because of the disease caused by coronavirus. The board then approved a resolution to allow Gulley to develop those into written guidelines.

The resolution also supports efforts to create a COVID-19 testing program with the intent of providing a “test and return” framework, if needed, and grants Gulley authority to take action as required if “the urgency of the situation dictates the necessity for immediate decisive action.”

Noting there was not much about contact tracing in the corporation’s initial COVID-19 plan, Gulley explained what the schools have been doing when a student tests positive.

The schools handle the contact tracing process, which involves looking at class schedules and seating charts as well as physically measuring in classrooms to determine who would be classified as a “close contact.” The parents of those students are then informed. Determination of whether those students are excluded from school are made by the health department or by criteria provided by the health department.

As of Thursday, the corporation had eight students and six employees positive for COVID-19. An additional 90 students and 10 employees were excluded because of being close contacts.

Gulley pointed out that data compiled by Jay Schools and other corporations has shown minimal spread of the disease in school settings. So far, Jay Schools has had no known student-to-student spread within its buildings, Snyder said. Gulley added that he reviewed information from 21 other Indiana districts and found 50 cases of COVID-19 transmission in schools out of 7,032 exclusions, a rate of 0.71%.

Butz attributed that, in part, to the measures schools are taking, including mask wearing and social distancing.

“I really think the measures are working,” he said. “I think it’s really important that the schools stay diligent … so that we can continue to keep kids in school.”

Both Gulley and Butz said spread is much more likely for students who have had a close contact outside of school with someone who has COVID-19.

“If students are in a home with someone who has COVID, that’s when you get COVID,” said Gulley. “The data shows that they are far more likely to get it, and we’re observing that they are getting it.”

For those reasons, students who have had close contact in schools are often allowed to remain in classes. Meanwhile, those who have had close contact outside of school are excluded.

Thursday’s meeting came after Gulley made a Google Doc available last week for parent, community and staff feedback on the proposed resolution, with well over 100 responses. He characterized them as being “all over the place.”

Four members of the public expressed their thoughts during the meeting, with Jay County High School teacher Anni McClung expressing her concern about those who do not follow COVID-19 mitigation guidelines for mask wearing and Bloomfield Elementary School teacher Giles Laux saying he feels virtual learning is not as effective as in-person and that schools need to stay open.

A parent expressed concern about his daughter’s experience with contact tracing. (The Commercial Review chose not use names in this instance to protect the student’s privacy.)

And Carolyn Carducci thanked the board, teachers, parents and staff for their efforts.

“This cannot be easy,” she said.

After about an hour of comment and discussion about the proposed resolution, school board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Chris Snow and Krista Muhlenkamp unanimously approved it. Mike Shannon and Jason Phillips were absent.

Noting that more than two dozen districts across the state have had recent closures, including at North Adams, Adams Central, Hagerstown, Anderson and Mount Vernon, Gulley and the board reiterated their intent to keep the schools open as long as they can safely do so. (Jay Schools closed after classes March 13 and did not reopen for the 2019-20 school year as part of a statewide shutdown. The corporation then delayed the start of this year’s classes until after Labor Day in order to provide teachers and staff more time to prepare.)

But they also acknowledged the possibility that the time may come when schools need to be closed.

“If we see a change and these numbers skyrocket, we have to,” said Snow. “If it happens where these kids are getting it and they’re getting it at school, or teachers are getting it and can’t get to school, then we have to … It’s a possibility. It could be a necessity. …

“But until we see that, we’ve got to keep the buildings open.”

Ford asked for help from parents and the community at large in promoting the safety measures — frequent hand washing and/or sanitizing, social distancing, mask wearing, etc. — that can slow the spread of the disease and thus help allow schools to stay open.

“The message that our students are getting at home and in the community is as important as the message that they hear from their teachers,” he said. “And if they hear at home that masks are silly, masks are unimportant, then that’s what they’re going to believe. So the community and our parents can help us a lot to keep the schools open by supporting those kind of decisions.”

In other business, the board:

•Approved the following: the purchase of a dishwasher for the Jay County Junior-Senior High School cafeteria at a cost of $60,851.89 from C&T Design and Equipment; leaves of absence for JCHS teacher Megan Byard and fifth grade virtual teacher Jillian Atkinson; and the extracurricular assignments of Amber Willoughby and Bill Saxman as seventh grade girls basketball coaches.

•Accepted the resignations of Kelli Ridenour as a bus aide and Kristen Millspaugh as junior high assistant swim coach.