Coronavirus Update: The Plan to Reopen Schools Safely

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus Update: The Plan to Reopen Schools Safely

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

There were big developments today on how schools could reopen for in-person instruction. More on that below.

First, though, I want to issue a correction to yesterday’s newsletter, which stated that the death of a 40-year-old woman over this past weekend marked the youngest person in Oregon to die of coronavirus. Three Oregonians have previously passed away from coronavirus while in their 30s, which a reader highlighted for me. Thank you for that feedback, and my apologies for the error. As a reminder, more thorough demographic data on hospitalizations and deaths are available here.

Just one day after our state recorded no new deaths from coronavirus, Oregon set a new record for deaths today with 14. This included a 26-year-old woman from Yamhill County, which tragically marks the first time an Oregonian in their 20s has died from the virus.

We know the number of young people infected with COVID-19 has been rising over the last several weeks. This is one more sad reminder of just how dangerous this virus is and that we need to remember the three Ws: wash your hands, wear your face covering, and watch your distance.


3 Ws

The Path to In-Person Classes for the School Year

Today, Governor Brown outlined the public health metrics that would allow K-12 students to return to in-person learning once the 2020-21 school year starts. This includes both statewide and county-by-county metrics in order to resume in-person instruction in any form, including hybrid instruction models when students are only sometimes in the classroom, for all grade levels and school districts.

State Metrics: Across the state, the weekly coronavirus test positivity rate must be at 5% or below for three consecutive weeks. Last week, Oregon achieved a test positivity rate of 4.8% after three weeks above the 5% threshold. Prior to those three consecutive weeks above 5%, the state was under that threshold for 12 weeks in a row. These numbers are available in the Oregon Health Authority’s weekly testing summary, which I covered in yesterday’s newsletter here.

County Metrics: For schools to resume in-person learning or a hybrid model, the county the school is in must also maintain a weekly test positivity rate of 5% or below for three consecutive weeks. The county must also have 10 or fewer cases per 100,000 people over 7 days for three consecutive weeks.

These metrics were developed by doctors and public health experts at the Oregon Health Authority in coordination with education experts at the Oregon Department of Education and the Early Learning Division. Oregon school districts are currently developing plans for the coming school year using ODE’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance, which can be found here.


Factors for Reopening

With these new metrics, large school districts have begun announcing their immediate plans for the fall. Portland Public Schools announced today that it will be exclusively doing distance learning from Wednesday, September 2 until at least Thursday, November 5. Oregon Public Broadcasting has more information here on other school districts that have made similar decisions. Please check your local school district to see if it has made any announcements like this today.

This is challenging news, if not shattering news for lots of families. We know that students’ educational growth can be harmed by distance learning when compared to in-person learning, and that these changes will compound inequities. Parents’ ability to work and provide for their children will also be impacted.

This is the safest course, however, for both educators and children, and for the entire state. The Institute for Disease Modeling has shown that unless community spread is reduced, reopening schools to in-person instruction, even with protective measures like physical distancing and face coverings, will cause significant growth of the epidemic.

The upside is we now know the targets we need to hit in order to make it safe for students to return to the classroom. Let’s commit to hitting those goals by doing everything we can to prevent the spread of the virus.


Learning Options

More information on this decision-making process, including metrics comparing Oregon to other countries that have successfully reopened schools, is available here.

Below are some additional details on reopening metrics for remote and rural school districts, transition planning for distance learning, and schools that must do distance learning without a hybrid model.

In-Person Instruction or Hybrid Instruction Model: K-3 Students and Remote and Rural School Districts:

Under some conditions, in-person instruction can resume only for K-3 students and remote and rural school districts with fewer than 100 students. Younger students get the virus at lower rates, get less sick, and spread the virus less than older students and adults. Younger students also need more in-person instruction to build the literacy and math skills critical for lifelong learning. Schools in remote and rural communities are less likely to contribute to the community spread of COVID-19 cases that cannot be traced and contained. The following conditions must be met for in-person instruction for K-3 students or for remote and rural students:

  • Fewer than 30 cases per 100,000 over 7 days
  • Test positivity of 5% or less over 7 days
  • COVID-19 is not actively spreading in the school community
  • School districts are in compliance with sections 1-3 of Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance

Transition Planning for Comprehensive Distance Learning:

For school districts where in-person instruction is occurring during the school year, planning for a switch to comprehensive distance learning should take place, including training for staff and notification of the community, if one or both conditions are met:

  • 20 cases or greater per 100,000 over 7 days
  • Test positivity of 7.5% or greater over 7 days

Comprehensive Distance Learning:

All school districts must implement comprehensive distance learning if the following conditions are met:

  • 30 or more cases per 100,000 over 7 days
  • Test positivity of 10% or greater over 7 days

The Latest News

  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 342 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 17,416. Sadly, 14 more people have died, meaning there have still been 303 Oregonians to die of the coronavirus. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.

OHA COVID-19 Update 7-28-2020

OHA Epi Curve 7-28-2020

OHA County Map 7-28-2020

To read past newsletters, you can go to this link. For up to date information, please check this link to the Oregon Health Authority where regular updates are posted: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Pages/News-Releases.aspx

Please email me at Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov if you have specific concerns that have not been addressed by the OHA. Our office will do all we can to help and protect all Oregonians.

Thank you for reading! We will get through this together.

Best,

Tina

Tina Kotek

State Representative
House District 44
Speaker of the House

email: Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1200
address: 900 Court St NE, H-269, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/kotek