Friday, August 28, 2020 - 8:11 am
The District has released its timeline for making decisions about students returning to school buildings for the 2020-21 school year based on Public Health Madison Dane County’s “Metrics for Assessing Readiness to Resume In-Person Instruction” that was released on Aug. 21, Director of Communications Perry Hibner announced.
Hibner added that all of the dates below are tentative and subject to local health metrics meeting the PHMDC decision-making guidelines:
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September 14 (School Board Meeting) - Presentation of EC/4K-4th grade blended model
September 28 (School Board Meeting) - Approval of EC/4K-4th grade blended model
October 12 - Early childhood/4K and students in grades 1-2 or 1-4 return to school buildings in a blended model (if health data allows)
November 2- Students in grades 5-12 return to school buildings in a blended model (if health data allows)
Districts are required by PHMDC to have class sizes of 15 students or fewer at the elementary level, which is why the District would begin with a blended model. Districts are required by PHMDC to have class sizes of 25 students or fewer at the secondary level.
Because MCPASD school levels are K-4, 5-8 and 9-12, the District has decided not to bring back fifth-graders until middle schools are opened, Hibner said. He noted one of the biggest challenges would be having middle school encore staff teaching in-person and online at the same time as the schedules for each are different.
Here is the latest summary from PHMDC based on data from Aug. 5-18:
- Grades K-2: Dane County must be at or below a 14-day average of 54 cases per day for 4 consecutive weeks (currently met).
- Grades 3-5: Dane County must be at or below a 14-day average of 39 cases per day for 4 consecutive weeks.
- Grades 6-12: Dane County must be at or below a 14-day average of 19 cases per day for 4 consecutive weeks.
Dane County is averaging 42 cases per day over a 14-day period as of Aug. 21. If that number rises beyond 54, PHMDC would consider closing all schools for in-person instruction.
PHMDC officials indicated the decision is based on the average number of cases per day based on national and state health data, including a prominent Harvard study.