Lorain Schools: Families must opt-in to hybrid model by Nov. 26

Lorain Schools students must choose whether to go back to partial in-person learning by Thanksgiving. The district announced plans to implement hybrid models for its buildings after winter break, with students returning to some face-to-face classes Jan. 11. Families have until Nov. 26 to decide if they want to send their students back to school by choosing a model via a survey launched Monday. Those who opt for in-person learning will be notified by the week of Dec. 7 what cohort they are in. Half of the students who opt for in-person classes will attend on Mondays and Tuesdays; the other half with return on Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays will be a remote, asynchronous learning day for all students with time for student support services or staff professional development, CEO Jeff Graham and others explained during a town hall Zoom meeting Monday evening. Students who are not in-person, either based on the cohort they are assigned or because their families opted to continue with an all-remote schedule, will log into classes virtually. Students will keep the same teachers they've had since the start of the school year, and families with students in multiple grades will be kept in the same cohort. Buildings are configured for social distancing, with 6-feet spacing between desks shrinking in-person class sizes from upward of 20 students by more than half depending on the building. Staff will return starting Jan. 4. That same week buildings will host tours for students and their families to see new procedures, what classrooms look like, and to start voluntary COVID-19 testing. The testing, spurred by partnerships with Mercy Health, Case Western Reserve University and Lorain County Public Health, is part of the district's mitigation strategy. Also optional, staff and students can participate in research to measure community spread and mitigation within schools conducted by Dr. Prakash Ganesh, a family medicine specialist and assistant professor in Case Western Reserve University's Department of Family Medicine & Community Health in the School of Medicine, through the district's partnership with CWRU. During Monday's information session, Ganesh said his intent is to show that frequent testing or a testing strategy as part of a mitigation strategy can impact how the virus spreads. Lorain County Public Health will still conduct contact tracing around positive cases, and data surrounding positive cases will be used to improve the district's mitigation, explained Ross May, Lorain Schools executive director of strategic planning, data and process. The testing itself is just as important as social distancing and wearing masks, he said. As students and staff return to the schools' 14 buildings, Graham said the district plans to treat each person as if they have COVID-19 and ensure multiple layers of protection between every student and staff member. "If we act properly and follow the guidelines outlined by the CDC it is incredibly unlikely to spread. Nothing is guaranteed; we have a pandemic. No matter where you are or what you're doing there is some risk but the place … where you should be the least likely to get it is when you're in our schools. And what researchers and experts are finding is that's the case across the country — it's not getting spread in schools, it's being spread outside of schools." For more information, including the full town hall video or to choose a learning option for your child, visit lorainschools.org or call (440) 233-2271. Information is available in English and Spanish. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.