JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Jamestown Public School Board met in a special meeting Monday to discuss the newest instructional plan.
On November 9th, the board heard a presentation from the team, providing context and a look at the current landscape of the school setting related to COVID-19 response.
“Without this context, decisions of the school can appear counterintuitive given the rising county cases and increased risk designation within the county,” the presentation stated.
Superintendent Dr. Rob Lech recently completed a presentation that discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the Jamestown Public School District. He says when sharing COVID-19 impacts on schools, they protect individual privacy by reporting cases in the district as opposed to by building.
The school district has been keeping transparent by reporting cases in their Jamestown Public Schools. Out of 353 regular staff, the district currently have 5 staff members that are out due to positive tests and an additional 14 that are out due to household contact or close contact.
“This means 19 staff are out of school currently,” the planning team found. “An additional 5 staff are designated as close contact exempt and are able to be in school. These close contacts include regular staff that are coaching/advising in activities.”
Out of 2,104 students, there are currently 26 students that are identified as positive and are not in attendance as of November 9th. An additional 121 students have been identified as household contacts.
“In terms of close contacts, we have 128 students identified as close contacts in quarantine and an additional 96 are exempt status who are able to continue to attend school,” the planning team stated.
“The vast majority, approximately 64%, of the impact is occurring outside of school. Inside school we are seeing almost exclusively close contacts related to positives occurring outside of school.”
With little to no transmission being found inside the schools, the Instructional Planning Team determined that school is a safe place for students and teachers.
“While our students and staff are seeing escalated cases, these aren’t a result of being in the school setting,” the team concluded.
“We see far lower positive numbers among students at the elementary levels. This goes beyond the smaller school sizes and mobility of students. We are not seeing transmission at any level in school so we presume that activities and more independent activities outside of school are predominant factors for secondary students.”
Dr. Lech added that if the community continues to escalate in cases, they will need to reconsider taking some further safety precautions inside the schools.
The Instructional Plan Review Team made the recommendation to have Elementary continue with 5 days of instruction in school and Middle School and High School move to 4-day face-to-face instructional learning beginning Monday, November 16th.
“We are in the place to make this recommendation because of the great work of our staff and building administrators,” the review team stated in their presentation. “In the weeks since transitioning to 5-days at the middle school level, we are seeing the additional work burden of so many students out. We feel this is the best solution now, but our goal continues to be a return to full 5-day instruction when the conditions allow.”
The team also made sure to thank teachers, building principals, and staff for how they’ve handled the pandemic so far.
“Like everybody, they are under a lot of stress and are being asked to make significant changes to practices during the pandemic. Unlike everybody, they are responsible for the health and safety of 2,100 children in an environment unique within the community. It is a significant undertaking and they have done it with grace and professionalism.”
Below is a recent video posted by Dr. Lech regarding the impacts of COVID-19.
Watch the special meeting below courtesy of Jamestown Video: