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More City Students Could Be Back In School Full-Time

The Jamestown Public Schools District needs the federal and state governments to get on the same page before more students can resume full-time in-school learning.

Dr. Kevin Whitaker, district superintendent, discussed with board members on Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control reduction of social distancing requirements from 6 feet to 3 feet. Whitaker said he and his leadership team are meeting with representatives of the district’s unions and taking preliminary steps to return students to school. Parents will have an opportunity to make their thoughts known before anything changes.

“Broad strokes of that are first, we’re going to send out a survey to parents to make sure we get their feedback to see what they’re thinking in terms of their desire to bring kids back, their desire to keep their kids in a hybrid model or their desire to keep their kids at home,” Whitaker said after Tuesday’s meeting. “That’s going to really help us steer where our parents want us to go. With that said, as you mentioned broad strokes, the first step we would make is to expand our school days so they’re full school days, alternating days. Subsequent to that I would love to see our kids come back full-time.”

As is the case with other schools in The Post-Journal’s readership area, the state Health Department needs to change its guidance to match the federal guidance before the CDC change makes much difference locally. Local health departments don’t have the authority to overrule the state Health Department, so local districts are waiting on Dr. Howard Zucker, state health commissioner, and the state Health Department to change the state’s guidance for schools to match the federal government’s. Whitaker said returning Jamestown schoolchildren to in-person schooling will require a lot of work behind the scenes so the district is ready when the state guidance eventually changes.

“Both of those steps are going to require a lot of logistics,” he said. “If you think about it, lunch, transportation, there are a lot of things that have to happen in such a large school district. And we have to make sure we cooperate with all the folks that are part of our school district from the cafeteria workers to teachers to bus drivers to paraprofessionals to teachers — everybody has to be on the same page and we have to hear their thoughts.”

“I’d love to get there by the end of the year. And really that depends on our state Department of Health and how far they go with allowing what the CDC has put out.”

Whitaker said a little-discussed stipulation in the federal guidance is another sticking point. According to the CDC’s website, social distancing requirements in schools are indeed cut in half if a county is in its blue zone, which means fewer than 10 total new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days and a 5% percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over the past seven days. Schools in a yellow zone, which have between 10 and 49 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days and a positive test percentage between 5% and 7.9%. Those schools can have 3 feet social distancing in elementary, middle and high schools.

Schools in orange (50-99 cases per 100,000 people over seven days and a positive test percentage of 8 to 9.9%) and red zones (more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days and a positive test percentage more than 10%) can use 3 feet of social distancing but are recommended to group students to limit the number of students in school. Schools that do not use cohorting must still have 6 feet of social distancing in classrooms.

Most New York counties, including Chautauqua, are classified by the CDC as a red zone.

The CDC guidance does decrease the social distancing requirement by half, but that only applies to schools in areas with low transmission. The state and federal guidance regarding county COVID-19 transmission also differs, which makes the transition back to full-time instruction even more difficult, Whitaker said.

“We want to bring kids back,” Whitaker said. “We are working to expand the amount of time kids have in front of teachers. That is the most valuable time. Hopefully with the regulations working out between the two agencies — the CDC and the state Department of Health — we’ll be able to see some of those restrictiosn lifted and we’ll be able to get students back in by the end of the year.”

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