Plan: 5 days in-person beginning mid-March
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — Superintendent Brian Pruitt presented a plan to the Linwood Board of Education on Feb. 10 that calls for all children to return to the classroom full time beginning March 15.
The board held a fully virtual retreat Wednesday to discuss the district’s “Scaling Up Plan,” which included a presentation from Drs. Manish Trivedi and Gemma Downham.
The infectious disease specialists with AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, who worked with administration to formulate its plan, provided background information on the COVID-19 virus and the global pandemic that began in early 2020, infecting more than 27.3 million Americans and leading to the death of more than 471,000.
The doctors explained different methods for reducing the risk of infection, such as wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining a 6-foot distance from others, boosting filtration in the schools’ HVAC systems and developing a one-way traffic flow in classrooms. Other ideas included reducing the number of students in a class or increasing the size of the classroom, as well as using physical barriers to separate students.
The district’s plan addressed every one of these issues.
Under the plan — which is expected to go to a vote by the Board of Education at its next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24 — first-graders would join preschool and kindergarten students in-person Feb. 22 and students in all other grades would start March 15. That week, all students would be in school four days, with March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, an all-virtual day. The following week, starting March 22, students would have their first five-day week of in-person instruction.
Pruitt said students would continue in their cohort model until March 10, with March 11-12 being all virtual to allow time for the schools to be set up to welcome the students back, albeit in a much different environment than what they left in March 2020. It will be nearly one year to the day since all students last attended full time.
“That will give us the ability to make the massive shifts that we have to make,” Pruitt said. “Those two days will be days to make that happen, as well as March 17.”
The Linwood resident said the virtual day March 17 would allow the district to react to anything learned March 15-16.
Students would be in school through Wednesday, March 31, the last day before spring break, and then return to a regular schedule afterward.
Pruitt called it “a plan that puts us in a position that gets our kids back to school using data that tells us we can do it.”
Nearly 300 people logged in to watch the Facebook livestream of the board retreat.
Board of Education President Donna Michael-Ziereis said it was always the district’s intention to get students back in the classroom as soon as safely possible.
“We are excited to be able to share more information about those plans,” Michael-Ziereis said, thanking everyone who has communicated with the board directly and through a survey.
Board member Reema Kanzaria asked if it were necessary to maintain 6 feet of distance at all times.
The doctors explained that the virus is transmitted via droplets traveling from person to person, noting that the droplets travel 6 feet at most under normal conditions.
“Loud talking and singing could put more virus into the air,” Downham said. “It is important to use inside voices so students are not projecting particles.”
The doctors discussed different types of masks and their effectiveness, noting those with filtration systems and/or multiple layers work the best. Gaiters, which are popular with many students, do not have multiple layers and are not effective, she said.
Pruitt noted that the district already has forbidden their use in schools.
Trivedi said it is necessary to maintain 6 feet separation unless physical barriers such as plexiglass shields are in place.
Downham said it is necessary to implement all safety measures at the same time — distance, masks, hygiene and proper ventilation.
“It is important to make sure all are reliably implemented to stop transmission in schools,” she said.
Regarding ventilation, Pruitt said the district has upgraded the filters in the schools’ HVAC systems from MERV8 to MERV13, the level that effectively filters out the virus.
The doctors explained that the filtration system must be used in conjunction with fresh air rather than recirculated air.
Michael-Ziereis said the district would try to find more ways to increase air flow and ventilation, suggesting the addition of portable air filters.
The board president noted the students would be eating lunch in their classroom and that each space would be disinfected afterward since masks would be off during that time.
Downham suggested limiting the time when masks are off while ensuring there is proper ventilation and physical barriers to stop droplets from spreading.
Board member Gina Osbeck asked about contact tracing in the event that a student or staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
Downham said anyone who was within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 15 minutes would be considered a close contact and would have to quarantine for 10 days.
Member Holly DiLeo noted it is difficult to keep students in lower grades properly separated and that teachers have more direct contact with younger kids, asking if it were safe to say that more of them would be forced to quarantine if someone tested positive.
Downham said that is always possible but noted that a one-way flow of traffic would help solve the problem. She said the students should be grouped in cohorts so that the same individuals sit together every day, making contact tracing easier and possibly limiting the number of students who would have to quarantine.
Michael-Ziereis said the board has been pressured all year to get students back in school, noting that many officials believed they would open for two weeks and then be forced to close by Gov. Phil Murphy as the pandemic worsened.
That did not happen, and students have been able to continue with hybrid instruction or fully virtual since Sept. 8.
Trivedi said the number of cases is trending downward, calling it an “opportune time to try to open.” He said the district should maintain an active conversation with the county Department of Health while monitoring ongoing conditions locally, regionally and nationally.
Downham said it is important that the entire community work together to decrease the spread of the virus, especially after children return to school.
“To make this successful, it really does take a village,” she said, noting that medical professionals are finding that many cases are contracted during small gatherings.
“To make any type of endeavor successful, you must make sure that safety precautions are followed at all levels,” she said. “It takes everybody doing their part to pull this off and make it successful.”
Trivedi said in the beginning of the pandemic, many hospital workers had to be convinced that precautions were effective and that he anticipates the same response in schools.
“Teachers are rightfully concerned,” he said.
Both doctors urged people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Michael-Ziereis said the presentation was well-received by board members as well as teachers, noting union president David Lampkin read a letter of support for the plan and thanked Pruitt for involving them in the planning process.
Michael-Ziereis said there “still are a couple of elements that may get tweaked between now and when the board is formally presented with it for a vote at our next meeting,” which will be the final virtual meeting of the board.
Michael-Ziereis said she feels confident that enough information was provided and adequate steps have been taken that the board would likely approve the plan.
“We asked every single board member to weigh in with their observations, with their questions, and overwhelmingly we got a very positive response from the board members,” she said, noting that the plan likely would move forward “unless there is some right turn or craziness with a variant or some real spike in the numbers.”
She said the district worked hard “to ensure that we had the most robust curriculum that we could” but also is looking at ways to support further education such as summer enrichment activities.
