HANCOCK COUNTY — From schedules to shutdown strategies, schools continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic as they head into the second half of the academic year.
One of the county’s districts has changed the criteria it uses for coronavirus-driven closures from a flat number district-wide to a method that considers schools’ populations. The other three districts are maintaining a mix of on-site learning for their younger students and hybrid schedules for their older ones.
In the Southern Hancock school district, the decision to close a school is now based on a positivity rate of 1% of the building’s population, with a minimum of five active cases.
The criteria for a building to close is 12 active cases at the high school, seven at the junior high, six at the intermediate school, five at Brandywine Elementary, six at New Palestine Elementary and six at Sugar Creek Elementary.
Wes Anderson, the district’s community relations director, said the threshold for Brandywine Elementary School was kept at five despite having a population of about 200. Under the 1% method — if two siblings got the virus, for instance — the school would have to shut down.
For the first part of the school year, the district had been using five cases as the amount to trigger a building closure. But five cases at Brandywine Elementary School is a lot different than five cases at New Palestine High School, which has a population six times greater, Anderson said.
“We wanted to go with a percentage just to be consistent from building to building,” he said.
The district made the change after receiving feedback from the community and reviewing plans from other school districts in central Indiana.
“As we have shared previously, our goal is to have our schools open,” Superintendent Lisa Lantrip told the school corporation’s families in an email. “We hope these changes can keep students learning safely in our classrooms each day.”
All six of Southern Hancock’s schools opened with in-person learning Monday after the holiday break.
With the exception of a couple temporary classroom closures, kindergarten through sixth grade in the Greenfield-Central district has been open to in-person learning since the academic year began.
Harold Olin, the district’s superintendent, said on-site instruction is the plan for the second semester as well, with continued close monitoring of cases and keeping in contact with the county health department.
The junior high is slated to remain on its hybrid schedule through Jan. 15 and the high school for the next nine weeks, through the end of the third quarter. For the hybrid schedule, half of the students attend in person two days a week and have virtual learning two days while the other half does the opposite. All students are virtual on Wednesdays.
The state recommends middle and high schools consider hybrid schedules in counties with an orange COVID-19 advisory level, which Hancock County had from Dec. 23 to Jan. 6 before rising to red.
Olin feels there are a couple reasons driving that recommendation, one of which is that elementary school students are much less mobile than upperclassmen, making them less likely to spread the virus. While middle and high schools control students’ days for several hours, the kids are more prone to travel, meet friends and participate in extracurricular activities outside of school.
“First-graders don’t do that,” Olin said. “We control their day. They’re wearing masks when not socially distanced, and, for the most part, going home to their families.”
There’s an economic factor as well, Olin continued, as many parents rely on in-person school so they can work.
“Our communities depend on us to have their kids on site more,” he said.
Olin said the district has chosen not to adopt a method for shutting down an entire school like Southern Hancock has, but has received and applied guidance from the Hancock County Health Department indicating an individual classroom be shut down if two or more cases are reported.
The district closely monitors COVID-19 data throughout its schools, Olin continued, including student, teacher and staff cases along with close contacts and symptoms.
When Eastern Hancock returned from break this week, pre-K through sixth grade was in person while grades seven through 12 remained on a hybrid schedule.
Eastern Hancock Superintendent Dave Pfaff said instead of establishing a system for triggering a school closure, the district takes a less definite approach in which it would seek guidance from the county health department.
“We work very closely with them every day,” Pfaff said. “We’ll just continue to work with the health department and follow their advice.”
Mt. Vernon has decided to extend its current schedule through Feb. 12. High school students are on a hybrid schedule and attend school in person on the same two days each week. Thursdays are virtual for all students.
K-8 students go to school in person on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and have virtual instruction on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mini-Marauder Preschool remains open as long as staffing can support the learning environment.
Maria Bond, community relations director for the district, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the decision was based on feedback from families and staff, staff absences, the first semester’s substitute fill rate and COVID-19 spikes in the weeks following holiday breaks.
“Mt. Vernon has been fortunate that we have only had to close one building for two weeks due to staffing shortages,” Bond said, referring to Fortville Elementary School in November.
