Chalkbeat Staff, Chalkbeat Colorado

Aug 4, 7:37pm MDT

Colorado school reopening updates: More Colorado school districts plan remote starts was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters”

Get news and updates on Colorado school districts’ evolving fall plans below.

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Aug. 4

Four school districts in northern Colorado change plans, will start remotely

Citing concerns about rising cases in the community and the long wait to get test results, four more Colorado school districts announced Tuesday that they’ll start the school year with online learning.

They are: Boulder Valley, St. Vrain Valley, Poudre, and Thompson.

“The way we prevent outbreaks in our schools is to test, trace, and isolate,” Tom Gonzales, Larimer County public health director, said in a message to families in the Loveland-based Thompson district. “We are seeing a substantial delay in COVID-19 test results from all clinical labs, including the state lab. For contact tracing to be effective, we must obtain timely test results within 2-3 days.

“With cases continuing to rise, counties across the state will struggle to conduct timely contact tracing with this delay in results. This is a state-wide problem that has caused us to reassess our school reopening plans.”

The Thompson school district plans to do online learning at least through Oct. 16. So will the Fort Collins-based Poudre district, also in Larimer County.

The Boulder Valley and St. Vrain districts both pointed to concerning information from Boulder County’s health department that cases are rising in the community. Boulder Valley will remain remote until at least through Sept. 22. St. Vrain, based in Longmont and spanning Boulder and Weld counties, will also remain remote through the end of September.

In a message to the community, St. Vrain Superintendent Don Haddad said continued uncertainty about the role of children in spreading the coronavirus and the large number of parents, teachers, and others raising safety concerns also weighed on his decision.

“Given the significant shift in information and the unrest that exists at this time, we do not believe that an in-person learning model would be conducive to learning and/or physical and emotional well-being,” he wrote.

– Erica Meltzer

Aug. 3

Denver Public Schools joins districts offering COVID testing to staff

The Denver district will be among those working with Gary Community Investments to make frequent testing for COVID-19 available to employees.

Denver is currently planning a remote start to the school year, with classes for most students to remain virtual at least through Oct. 16. However, some students, including preschool students and students with disabilities who depend on in-person services, may return to school buildings after Labor Day if public health conditions allow.

The testing program would be available to staff working in schools. It would allow Denver district employees to get tested roughly every two weeks, even if they don’t have symptoms, and get results within 72 hours.

Positive results would be reported to public health authorities and prompt quarantine procedures to limit the spread of the virus.

In a press release, district officials said the program, COVIDCheck Colorado, also allows employees and families to report symptoms to a tracking website every morning. The website in turn may recommend that certain people stay home that day or seek testing.

Certain officials would have access to the data from the tracking website and could use it to watch for possible outbreaks, the district said.

— Erica Meltzer

July 30

Polis: Going back to school is ‘reasonably safe’

The day after Denver Public Schools said it would hold classes remotely at least through mid October, Gov. Jared Polis said going back to school is as safe as going to the grocery store or to any other job.

“All the work that Coloradans have put into keep our viral transmission rate low is why it’s safer to open schools in Colorado,” he said. “It is reasonably safe. Many schools are opening. … There are districts that for their own reasons are delaying a decision and beginning out virtually.

“I think the hard work of Coloradans is what has led to the environment where unlike parts of Texas or much of Florida, it’s reasonably safe to open schools, just as it’s reasonably safe to go to the grocery store, it’s reasonably safe to go to work.”

Polis added that his own children will be going back to school.

Polis made the comments two days after he called on Coloradans “not to be stupid” as the state tries to flatten a coronavirus trajectory that public health officials have said could overwhelm hospitals as soon as September.

Colorado districts that are starting the school year remotely — which include Denver, Jeffco, Aurora, Adams 14, Roaring Fork, and Pueblo 70 — have said they made the decision in large part due to the rate of transmission in the community. In some cases, school districts in the same county have come to different conclusions about returning to school, and the state has not issued firm guidelines.

Polis did not elaborate Thursday on the metrics he was using for school safety, though he did say he expects the impact of a statewide mask mandate and closing bars to show up as a reduction in new cases soon.

The rate of positive COVID tests in Colorado has hovered just under 5% in recent weeks. That’s a threshold many public health experts look to when weighing reopening decisions, though it wasn’t developed specifically with schools in mind.

Earlier this month, spokesman Conor Cahill said the state doesn’t have “one bright line” that determines when it’s safe to open schools and that these decisions would largely be made locally. Asked for clarification on Thursday, Cahill said the governor and public health officials “are constantly evaluating and open to new metrics that may be able to help with these important decisions,” but he did not provide any specifics.

— Erica Meltzer

Three more districts join effort to provide free COVID testing to staff

Three Adams County school districts announced plans Thursday to provide free COVID-19 testing for their employees every two weeks through a partnership with a Denver-based philanthropic organization.

Mapleton, Westminster, and the Brighton-based District 27J will all receive testing and contract tracing services through “COVIDCheck Colorado,” an effort recently launched by Gary Community Investments. A fourth district, Aurora Public Schools, announced plans to use the service earlier this month.

Through the partnership, district employees will have access to COVID-19 testing before they return to the classroom, as well as every two weeks thereafter — with results in 72 hours or less. Staff can also get tested in the interim if they show symptoms.

The service will be optional for employees. To sign up, they must sign waivers that, among other things, will give districts access to the results.

Plans for reopening schools vary among districts participating in COVIDCheck. Mapleton and Westminster will both offer in-person learning for all grades five days a week this fall. District 27J will offer in-person instruction for elementary students and a hybrid model that includes alternating days of in-person and remote instruction for secondary students. Aurora will start with remote learning for most students, with in-person instruction for small groups of high-needs students, such as those with special needs or who are learning English.

Gary officials said school districts will pay about $10 per test through COVIDCheck, compared to $100-200 per test on the open market.

Read more: Aurora school staff will have access to regular free testing this fall

— Ann Schimke

July 28

Adams 14 students will start the school year online

The Adams 14 school district is following several other districts in planning to start school online next month.

The school board approved a resolution for a remote-only start to the school year Tuesday evening. Students will continue in remote learning through the first quarter, which ends Oct. 7.

Adams 14 had not previously released a formal plan, but had suggested that in-person learning was most likely. The district was scheduled to be the first in the metro area to start classes in just two weeks. The school year now will start on Aug. 24.

Don Rangel, the acting superintendent for Adams 14, said details on the start of the school year will be published Wednesday and Thursday.

The resolution was not part of the posted agenda for the special meeting, but was added in at the start of the meeting. There was little discussion during the public meeting. The board however, had met in private for more than an hour prior to the public meeting.

Board members said they thought the plan was best to keep students, staff, and families safe.

“This is the safest option for right now,” said board member Maria Zubia. “Moving forward it will be evaluated.”

Several board members said their own families have been impacted by the virus, and board members gave their condolences to board member Regina Hurtado for the loss of a family member to COVID-19.

— Yesenia Robles

Another Denver charter network will remain remote until at least October

The STRIVE Prep charter network in Denver will remain remote until at least Oct. 16. In an announcement to families, charter leaders pointed to the high rate of community transmission in Denver. They said that making a decision now would provide more certainty for teachers and families.

“We believe that making a decision now that the academic program will be delivered remotely for the first quarter allows our teachers to plan the best possible program for your children, and allows you to plan thoughtfully without uncertainty for what is to come,” the announcement said.

— Erica Meltzer

July 27

DSST charter network will stay remote until at least mid-October

Students in Denver Public Schools’ district-run schools will be learning remotely at least until Labor Day. Students in the DSST charter network, meanwhile, will be remote until at least mid-October.

Bill Kurtz, CEO and founder of the Denver-based charter network, made the announcement in an email to parents Monday morning. Kurtz said three factors drove the decision: growing evidence that students older than 10 can transmit the virus as well as adults, desire to create a definitive plan for the start of the school year, and the need to start planning now to improve the remote learning experience.

“We could not see a way to constructively teach students [in person] and keep the community safe,” Kurtz wrote in the email.

Kurtz said he doesn’t believe public health models will provide more clarity about the safety of returning in early September, and he wants to provide more certainty for teachers, students, and parents.

DSST serves almost 6,000 students in nine middle schools and six high schools. Most of the schools are in Denver, and one is in Aurora. Students in the Denver schools will learn remotely until at least Oct. 21, the return from the fall break, while students in the Aurora school would return Oct. 12 in accordance with that district’s plan. Charter schools have flexibility to set their own calendars.

Kurtz also said that unlike the Denver district, DSST will not require families to commit to in-person or remote learning through December. Instead, families will be able to choose a remote option at any time.

— Erica Meltzer

July 25

Douglas County schools will start the year on a hybrid schedule

Students in the Douglas County School District will attend school just two days a week and learn from home the other three, the school board decided at a special meeting Saturday.

The decision comes as districts around the state are reassessing their back-to-school plans in light of rising cases of the coronavirus. Denver, Jeffco, and Aurora have all announced their intentions to start the school year remotely.

School starts Aug. 17 in Douglas County. Douglas County’s hybrid plan applies to all students starting in preschool.

Douglas County is one of 15 Colorado counties at risk of losing its variance that allows more business activity if case counts don’t come down soon. Douglas County elected officials have often been at odds with state and local public health officials over coronavirus restrictions.

More information about the district’s plan is available here.

Read more: Aurora students will learn virtually for their first quarter this fall

— Erica Meltzer

July 23

Polis: A surge of coronavirus testing will follow school-based outbreaks

During a press conference Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis said if there are coronavirus outbreaks at schools this fall, a surge of testing would take place — either in a specific cohort of students or the entire school.

While state officials are still developing specific protocols for school-based outbreaks, he said the goal would be immediate testing spearheaded by the local public health department. He said such testing surges have already happened at other facilities with outbreaks — for example, a Buena Vista prison where 1,200 tests were administered earlier this month.

“There will be site-based outbreaks at schools, like there is in any type of building or office,” Polis said.

In addition to testing, keeping students in consistent groups — known as cohorts — will also play a role in limiting virus spread and preventing schoolwide building closures, he said.

One isolated outbreak with rapid testing, he said, might mean “Mrs. McGillicuddy’s fourth grade class stays home for two weeks,” but other classes can continue as usual.

— Ann Schimke

July 21

Aurora teachers voice concerns over returning to buildings

During a special board meeting Tuesday night, the leaders of the Aurora teachers union presented survey results showing high levels of staff concern about the district’s plans to return to in-person learning.

According to the presentation, 1,042 district staff members responded to the union’s survey, representing more than two-thirds of its membership. Of those respondents, upwards of 75% had moderate or high levels of concern about the coming school year.

Aurora’s current plan is to return elementary and middle school students to class full time. High schools, meanwhile, would operate at 50% capacity, with ninth- and 10th-graders attending school in the morning and 11th- and 12th-graders coming in the afternoon.

At all levels, the plan relies heavily on the idea of creating cohorts, or groups of students and staff who interact with each other but not with other cohorts at the school.

Peter Zola, another union member, also pointed out that the survey showed that a high number of staff members are worried about family members at elevated risk for COVID-19 complications.

Zola said the district’s survey asks staff about their own health conditions, but not about those of other family or household members. In the union survey, 47% of staff said they had a health risk themselves or were concerned about a family member’s risk.

Superintendent Rico Munn said at the meeting that so far 6.3% of staff respondents have asked for remote assignments based on their vulnerability.

Union leaders said they want more of a role in crafting the fall plans. They have several questions and some specific requests, including some that may have already been addressed by district’s planning teams, but that haven’t yet been communicated to staff.

Munn on Tuesday proposed that the board adopt a monitoring position setting up a pre-condition for allowing the in-person learning plan to move forward. Under that scenario, if both Adams and Arapahoe counties weren’t downgraded from the state’s “high” risk category by Aug. 3, the district would switch to another model to start the school year.

School board members had questions about the monitoring plan. Some of them were uncomfortable proceeding with the in-person plan even for two more weeks, and in the end, no decision was made. The discussion will continue Friday afternoon at another special meeting.

Read more: Colorado teachers union seeks remote start to school

— Yesenia Robles

July 20

Jeffco teachers ask for school year to start remotely, not in classrooms

The Jeffco teachers union released a statement Monday asking the school district to turn back on its plan to start classes next month with students in school buildings full time.

“While Jeffco educators would like to see school return to normal as much as parents and students do, we have a responsibility to speak up for our school and community safety,” said Brooke Williams, president of the Jefferson County Education Association. “The start of school should be online or be postponed until broader conditions improve and JCEA and Jeffco Schools can come together to agree on how to respond to rapidly changing COVID conditions.”

Last week, the Denver school district cancelled its previous plan to bring students back to school in person by the end of August. Instead, the largest school district in the state will start the school year online.

Read more: U-turn: Denver reverts to virtual learning to start the school year

According to the Jeffco union’s statement, their own survey shows that a “vast majority of Jeffco educators” would not feel safe returning to in-person learning “without extensive measures to try to minimize the spread of COVID-19.”

The survey results, which were not provided in full, show that only 5% of respondents would feel moderately safe without enhanced measures.

The union survey also found 40% of educators reporting underlying conditions that put them at higher risk.

“Far more educators are likely to request online assignments than are available which will leave the district in the position of trying to decide whose health and safety is protected and whose is not,” the statement reads.

Cases of COVID-19 in Jeffco, like in much of the state, are trending up again.

Read more: ‘I’d like to live to teach another day:’ Denver, Jeffco teachers react to reopening schools

— Yesenia Robles

‘Nothing magical’ about 6 feet: New Colorado school guidance clears way for larger class sizes, more in-person instruction

Colorado elementary schools can open with normal class sizes under new state guidance that emphasizes local flexibility and a “layered” approach to safety that doesn’t depend on strict social distancing.

The guidance, issued Monday by the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, calls on schools to use a combination of masks, home health screenings, proper ventilation, and the creation of cohorts — groups of students and adults that only interact with each other — to open safely while the coronavirus continues to circulate in the community.

While schools should try to allow space for people to spread out, including holding classes outside where feasible, they will not be required to maintain 6 feet of distance among younger children — 3 feet is acceptable. The guidance says that older students, who are more likely to transmit the disease to others and to suffer health complications themselves, should maintain more distance, with any caps on class size dependent on the size of rooms

“We know that we won’t be able to eliminate all risk, and we’re honest about that,” said Katy Anthes, Colorado’s education commissioner. “We hope with layered risk protections, we can have a safe environment.”

Read the full story here.

— Erica Meltzer

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.