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SUSD wants to reach benchmarks before opening schools

Posted 8/20/20

Before masked faculty and staff meet any students returning to Scottsdale Unified School District campuses, benchmarks will need to be met to ensure the safe reopening of schools.

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SUSD wants to reach benchmarks before opening schools

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Before masked faculty and staff meet any students returning to Scottsdale Unified School District campuses, benchmarks will need to be met to ensure the safe reopening of schools.

The SUSD Governing Board unanimously resolved to monitor the presence of COVID-19 in the district, during an extensive, virtual meeting held Aug. 18, which was monopolized by public comments phoned from parents wanting the “choice” to send their children to school.

During public comments, Helene Shula appealed to the board to vote against any metric or standard that would make it more difficult or stringent to return to school.

“I applaud and thank you for putting our children first. Online learning is no substitute for personal instruction. It is not healthy,” Ms. Shula said.

Acknowledging many workers deemed essential in health care, grocery stores and other fields, she said teachers are just as essential during the pandemic.

“They do take a risk. But, they also take precautions. Similarly, I reach out to the board and communities that our teachers are essential. Yes, they do take a risk, some risks; but they also take precautions. Our teachers must be allowed to educate our children in person.”

In addition to suggestions by the district’s committee, established to determine the safe reopening of schools, board members elected to use metrics outlined by the Arizona Department of Health Services in deciding when it is safe to open schools to in-person learning.

ADHS recommends the following benchmarks fall within the moderate or minimal spread category for two consecutive weeks to at least begin offering hybrid learning, which allows students to divide learning inside physical buildings and online for distance learning:

  • Cases: New case rates below 100 per 100,000 people or a two-week decline in case rates;
  • PCR Test positivity rate: Less than 7% positivity; and
  • COVID-like illness of hospital visits: Below 10%.

Aside from information provided by district committee members, including two Governing Board members and health experts regarding benchmarks, a data dashboard developed by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health will be used to gauge the time to reopen.

County coronavirus statistics, updated every Thursday, will include numbers of cases, percentages of positive tests and hospital reports of COVID-19-like illnesses per 100,000 residents providing data by city, school district and ZIP code.

Benchmarks issued by state and county public health agencies recently described color-coded thresholds considered to be minimal, moderate and substantial to indicate the virus’s spread in the community plus criteria school districts should consider to determine when to open schools.

Although SUSD students began the 2020-21 school year online Aug. 10 in one of two distance-learning options, with hopes of returning on campus Sept. 8, there is a strong possibility a hybrid learning model will be offered rather than opening schools entirely.

SUSD Superintendent Dr. Scott A. Menzel, who recommended adopting the metrics, said he would be surprised if the district can have a full Sept. 8 return.

Although he remained optimistic about data in the Scottsdale area, he said the wisest course to ensure continued health, safety and well-being of the district’s 23,000 students, 1,500 teachers and school support staff is to follow public health experts’ recommendations.

While Dr. Menzel said the community needs to hear how the district is going to use the data in the metrics, he noted his concerns about liability issues and suggested using ADHS guidelines as a template to follow as benchmarks differed that were given by the state and county.

He wanted to go with liberal rather than more restrictive measures, he said.

“The last thing that I want is to bring students back and shut back down,” he said.

“Some of the parents who called in tonight are not going to be happy ... That’s not going to happen until we are in the green. They want to reopen and return to normal,” said Dr. Menzel.

He stated he knows in-person learning is the best way to educate as students and teachers thrive in that environment.

“While all of us want to get back to school in the ‘traditional’ way, from what we have learned and continue to learn about how this virus spreads, we must be smart and deliberate about how we achieve that,” Dr. Menzel said.

Noting the challenges of online learning for some younger students and special needs pupils, he suggested having them come to school first. And, he recommended a hybrid/phased-in return to learning once the metrics warrant transitioning from red to yellow on the ADHS dashboard.

While Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona Department of Education initially marked Aug. 17 for state schools to return to in-person learning, the decision was left up to local school districts with SUSD setting Sept. 8 to welcome students on campus.

SUSD board member Barbara Perleberg had questions and called it disheartening after hearing many comments from parents who counted on the Sept. 8 opening before the state had released its metrics.

“Back in July, we were all very eager for the governor to give a date to open. We now know that is different,” she said.

Referencing the color-coded metrics, she suggested using them any way the district chooses.

“I am hesitant tonight to send any unintentional message. What exactly do we need to approve? Or, can we as a board give direction and draw a picture of what the yellow looks like?

We need to be asking our students and parents: Are you thriving; are you surviving; or are you drowning? We will be sitting here in a couple weeks regretting giving parents a false hope,” she said.

SUSD Vice President Patty Beckman said listening to community members was important and impactful.

“To listen to parents cry right now about children being upset is gut-wrenching for me as a board member and as a parent. I can’t imagine what it will do to their mental health if they have to return and then stop,” Ms. Beckman said, supporting the safe return using the metrics.

Fittingly, SUSD President Allyson Beckham noted the district would not be able to please everyone.

“I am really appreciative of the data that the state has given and the way the committee went through it. I am supportive of the metrics as they stand out,” she said.

She added that although many would love to go back in the schools, including the teachers, there is a chance that all learning could go back online.

“It won’t be devastating. We have to put it in perspective. We have to be flexible. There is a high probability at some point. There is no large guarantees in this. We have to be the foundation children can. We’ve been through a lot and we’ll be supportive,” Ms. Beckham said.

Jann-Michael Greenburg said, albeit confusing, looking forward to a possible Sept. 8 start date on campuses, receiving government metrics and understanding how parents who “can’t trust the data,” as it may be manipulated, he noted that their duty as school board members is to educate.

“We are not epidemiologists. We want parents to choose SUSD, but if we cannot provide safely for everyone who makes our buildings safe to reopen,” he said, detailing teachers and staff wanting to return when it is safe for health concerns,

“I think that these metrics provide a mutual way of developing that.”

Ignoring the metrics is dangerous, and the district does not want to lose any students, faculty and staff like what’s happening in other districts witnessing a mass exodus, he added.

“Our educators are hurting as well. Every single one of them wants to be back in the classroom with their kids. We know teaching is a calling. They are teaching their own kids and having to teach our kids,” Ms. Beckman said.

She agreed “people got into public education to be with kids and not to watch them on a screen.” So, she suggested reexamining the metrics at the Sept, 1 meeting and determining if the district wants a hybrid for reopening.

“I see very clear these are the metrics. The only component we don’t know is the hybrid model. We might be able to open up a hybrid model on the eighth,” she said.

“I want nothing more for our kids to be back in school. But, if we come back and have a spike in cases and need to shut down, that is worst to me,” Dr. Menzel said of not being in the green yet where he wants to be.

“We will continue with our mitigation plans to make schools as safe as possible for the return of students and teachers. We will monitor the virus data of the ZIP codes in which 92% of our students reside.

And we will be closely monitoring the experience of other school districts, both locally and nationwide, as they reopen. The last thing we want to do is to go back to school, only to have to shut down again three weeks later,” he added.