Learning in-person five days a week
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City School District will be opening for five-day in-person instruction in April, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Taylor and Board of Education Presient Joseph Clark announced last week.
Taylor said the students in grades seven and eight at the intermediate school and grades nine through 12 at the high school would start going to school together five days a week beginning Monday, April 12.
Children in lower grades at the intermediate and primary schools had gone back to five-day in-person learning in early March.
The other students have been divided into two cohorts, O and C, with each group being in school two days a week and remote learning the other three days of the week. Their schedules alternated so only half of the students have been in the schools at any time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last week that it was changing the recommended separation of students in school from 6 feet to 3 feet. The district brought the students in the lower grades back to school earlier because it was easy to comply with the distancing in those buildings – combined with masking and other safety protocols – to keep them from being infected with COVID-19.
“Although we we not be able to always maintain 6 feet of distance between each student in classrooms for grades seven-eight,” Taylor and Clark wrote, “we are working on room modifications to possibly increase space between them.” She added all students would wear masks, face forward and have plexiglas barriers around their desks.
They said when the high school students start April 12, they “will attend for five early dismissal days a week.” The early dismissal is because the school cannot space the students 6 feet apart during lunchtime when masks are off. They will try to decide when it is feasible for the students to have lunch in school.
Taylor and Clark said the district will try to adhere to the 6 feet social distance “where practicable. However, there are classes in which students will be as close as 3 feet or slightly less.” They are trying to determine if they can move those classes to larger areas.
In the letter March 16, they wrote there were several factors behind the decision to go back to in-school learning with all students together five days a week:
– A “pivotal” new study in the Infectious Diseases Society of America that looked at Massachusetts statewide K-12 and staff COVID-19 case rates. That showed lower physical distancing, combined with masking, did not impact student of staff safety.
– “As a district that prioritizes mental health, we aim to provide our students with a more familiar routine, as we know that the consistency and reliability that come with a routine are key for mental health and wellness.”
– The federal directive to get students back in classrooms.
– The timing allows staff members to get vaccinated since becoming a priority group March 15.
– A Cape May County COVID-19 positivity rate dropping below 4 percent for the first time since Nov. 4 and a declining rate of transmission in the county.
COVID cases
The district has been posting regularly the number of COVID-19 cases and quarantines because of close contact. As of March 10, there were 83 positive cases of the coronavirus among staff/students, including 49 at the high school, 22 at the intermediate school and 12 at the primary school.
The number of students/staff placed on quarantine because of close contact as of March 10 was 294, including 184 at the high school, 72 at the intermediate school and 38 at the primary school.
From the beginning of the school year Sept. 2 until winter break before Christmas, there were 79 positive cases and 488 close-contact quarantines.
Waiting on approval
The district is awaiting approval for the return-to-school plan from the state Department of Health and Department of Education. Taylor and Clark said even after going back to five-day in-person learning, the district would have to be flexible in case of rising cases of COVID-19 in schools or the community.
Ninety-one percent of students in the district and nearly 90 percent at in the high school have opted for in-person learning since September. That is significantly higher than many districts in the state, they wrote, “which is why we have had to take a more cautious approach, at times, to resuming full-time, in-person school. … Thank you for your trust and understanding as our district has worked as a team, dedicated for a year now to helping our students return to our classrooms safely and responsibly.
Prom is happening
Ocean City High School will have a senior prom on May 22 on the campus because it is located “in a pristine location,” Principal Dr. Matthew Jamison wrote.
It will be complete with red carpet introductions, dancing, a DJ, catered dinner, outdoor dining, picture stations and other activities, Jamison wrote.
“We believe this venue will afford the class of 2021 a senior prom that is celebratory and safe.”