COLUMBUS – Schools in central Ohio and around the country are making plans to deal with a resurgence in COVID-19 infections, though the state’s largest district currently has no plans to change any of its policies.
Though Columbus City Schools saw 106 disruptions due to staff absences at the start of 2022, the district did not point to any planned changes to its policies to prepare for potential surges in the new year.
“As we look toward opening schools in August, the District will continue to follow its current mitigation protocols to help keep staff, students, and families safe,” spokesperson Jacqueline Bryant said.
COVID-19 infections are again on the rise and filling families with dread as a new school year approaches.
Columbus and Franklin County Public Health on Friday recommended that residents return to wearing masks and that businesses consider requiring them after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the county was experiencing a high level of community spread of the disease due to the latest sub-variant of the coronavirus.
A mask advisory has been issued after Franklin Co. was moved to the high level of transmission on CDC's COVID-19 data tracker.
. Mask indoors & in crowded areas
. Get vaccinated, boosted
. Test if you have symptoms, before gathering
. Talk to your doc if you're at a high risk pic.twitter.com/2RGvoSD7K9— Columbus Health (@ColumbusHealth) July 22, 2022
Parents fear the return of the pandemic scourge of outbreaks that sideline large numbers of teachers, close school buildings and force students back into remote learning.
Some school systems around the country have moved to bolster staffing to minimize disruptions.
But, like Columbus, many are hoping for the best without doing much else differently compared with last year.
Even some of the districts that had the most disruptions to in-person schooling amid the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant point to few specific changes in their prevention efforts.
Lolita Augenstein, president of the Council of PTAs in Columbus, said she’s optimistic that this year will be better.
The district has focused on hiring teachers and substitutes, she said, and educators are better trained to teach online if needed.
“We may not have figured it all out, and there are new variants and there are new concerns that have popped up,” said Augenstein, whose daughter graduated from a district high school last school year. “But kids are resilient. … The families are trained in going back and forth between remote and the building.”
Schools cannot afford more disruptions that distract them from the critical work of helping kids catch up, said Thomas Kane, an education policy researcher at Harvard.
Students at lower-income schools that were doing remote learning for more than half a year lost the equivalent of 22 weeks of learning, he said, while higher-income schools lost 13 weeks.