Othello School Board pushes back reopening start dates

OTHELLO — The Othello School Board wrestled with some tough decisions regarding school reopening during a special online meeting on Monday, Nov. 16.

Preschoolers and fourth- through sixth-graders will start in-person instruction on Jan. 4; middle school will start Jan. 11 or 25; and high school will start Jan. 25. Kindergarten through third grade will continue with in-person instruction until state entities order them to resume online learning.

Because of the increase of COVID-19 cases in the county, the Othello School District administrative staff recommended, at the advice of the Adams County Health Department, that the previously set reopening start dates for blended learning be pushed back. This recommendation included switching kindergartners through third-graders, already in school, back to online learning until the end of the month.

They also recommended that a metric be put into place to help district officials know when to think about reopening school. The metric recommended by the health department was 200 cases per 100,000 people.

Several board members expressed the difficulty of decisions about school reopening.

“These are tough decisions,” said Mike Garza, board president, at the end of the meeting. “We’ve been charged with a very important decision. We’re all in it for the right reasons. We may vary in opinions, but we’re one unit. We will get through this to the best of our abilities.”

Shortly before that, Garza had expressed that he was in a quandary about what should be done and that he didn’t like it that he was. He was hesitant to use the number of cases as the determiner of when school should restart because the county “may not see that for the rest of the year.” However, in the end, he voted to use the number of cases as the way to determine when to start school, an idea that was ultimately voted down.

Board member Lindsay Prows argued that students should start school on a date, versus a metric, because “science is showing that schools are not super spreaders.” She said it wasn’t right to make students responsible for the actions of the adults when they are outside of the classroom.

“The majority of teachers who have it (COVID-19) right now would still be sick,” Prows said. “The adults are choosing to expose themselves. They’re not getting it from school. The teachers are getting it regardless. I have a hard time making kids pay for the consequences of adults.”

Prows also said that parents and students would rather do in-person school than learning online. She used the example of a Scootney Springs Elementary School classroom where a student tested positive for COVID-19. The day after the teacher sent home a letter informing parents of the positive test result, there was 100 percent attendance in the classroom.

However, Pete Perez, assistant superintendent of Teaching and Learning, said that within the last few days, approximately 10% of students at Wahitis Elementary School who had been doing instruction on campus had called and said they would not be coming back for in-person classes.

Board member Jenn Stevenson summed up the pros and cons of the situation.

“No one is right or wrong,” Stevenson said. “We’re all of different opinions. We’re five people who have to make the decision for the district. All of our views are correct.”

Throughout the meeting, several different proposals were made and voted on. One motion that passed was to keep kindergarten through third grade on campus indefinitely until forced by an outside entity to shut down. The other passing motion was for preschool and fourth through sixth grades to return to in-person instruction on Jan. 4, seventh and eighth grades to return on either Jan. 11 or 25 and grades nine through 12 to return on Jan. 25. Both passing proposals were made by Prows and approved by Ken Johnson and Sharon Schutte. Stevenson and Garza voted against both proposals.

“I hate it,” said Prows. “At the end of the day, it feels like we’ll never get it. I feel like I’m losing sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.”

At the end of the meeting, Johnson said that the effort to keep students in school is a community effort.

“There is a lot of community spread,” Johnson said. “Please be safe. We’re thinking of the kids. We want you to think of the kids too. Keep them in school.”