Thread by @ellemoxley

Good evening, @theSMSD is going to hear from public health officials about current #COVID19 conditions in Johnson County. The livestream is here:

I'll be tweeting. 1/

@theSMSD Superintendent Mike Fulton opens meeting with an acknowledgment that it's really hard to implement personal learning plans when students aren't in class every day. Remember, that's a major goal of the district's right now. 2/

@theSMSD OK, we're going to hear from epidemiologist Elizabeth Holzschuh now. If you guys didn't already know, this is an @EpiElizJoCo fan account. She consistently provides good, accessible information, and that's so critical in these #COVID19 times. 3/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo Holzschuh reminds us that @jocogov health department gating criteria for schools is from July. Here's what was known in July:

1) Masking & distancing together are very effective strategies for slowing spread.
2) Kids younger than 10 don't really spread the virus like adults. 4/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Holzschuh says that @theSMSD was more conservative than the other JoCo districts. But she's been impressed that schools have largely been able to control the spread IN SCHOOLS. Emphasis mine. 5/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Holzschuh says they're really not seeing staff-kid or kid-staff transmission. That said, she says that #COVID19 has changed DRASTICALLY in the JoCo community in last three weeks. "We started seeing a really dramatic increase."

Today, 400+ cases. 6/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Schools have created an incredibly safe environments, Holzschuh says. But community events like weddings are driving exponential growth. "It doesn't have to be a big party. It doesn't have to be a wedding of 150 people. It could be a football watch party." 7/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov "Your schools are not in bubbles," Holzschuh says. JoCo Health is finding out the cases from schools as they report them.

"We're tired of the pandemic. We're tired of the isolation. We're tired of being alone." 8/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Only 17% of ICU beds in Johnson County are available. Remember, folks, these aren't just for #COVID19 patients. These are beds need for car accidents, for aortic dissections, for other serious illness. 9/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Holzschuh says she know there are parts of the community frustrated that JoCo Health isn't telling schools to close now that the gating criteria is red. You can find #COVID19 dashboard here, click on the schools tab: maps.jocogov.org/covid19/ 10/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov But again, she emphasizes that these positives are likely originating outside of school. So let's say that two kids in the same class attend the same party. (And @EpiElizJoCo, jump in here if I get this wrong, but I'm gonna try really hard not to.) 11/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov In that case, the contact is definitely out of school, so the whole class wouldn't need to quarantine, just close contacts.

But if JoCo Health can't find the link between the two cases, then likely the whole class would be quarantined as a precaution. 12/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov Holzschuh says other countries recognize the importance of keeping schools open. I swear guys, she said this. But I'm not going to miss an opportunity to plug @rpatrickdelaney reporting from Germany on THIS VERY SUBJECT: kcur.org/2020-11-03/ger… 13/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney OK, here's @theSMSD #COVID19 dashboard: smsd.org/about/departme…

53 staff & 315 students in active isolation. A district logo means fewer than six. Can't share because potentially identifying. 14/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney It sounds like @theSMSD is struggling with families refusing to cooperate with contact tracing. For instance, if your kid was exposed at a party, parents aren't disclosing who else was at the party. 15/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @theSMSD says that they are having staff leave due to #COVID19 concerns. More concerns about anxiety. And 127 staff having to isolate or quarantine. 16/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney I've said this before, and I'll say this again: The science says schools should be open.

The problem that @theSMSD and every other district is grappling with is society has decided literally everything else should be, too. It makes keeping schools open much, much harder. 17/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney Kelly handles sub requests for SMSD and most districts in KC area. Fill rate pre-Kelly was 93%. It's 99% in normal years. It's 90% now, week 11. There's been a decline of fill rates since schools started bringing all students back for in-person learning. 18/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney Yesterday (Monday 11/9) was the worst fill rate to date, 79%. SMSD is doing slightly better than peers, but rates across metro are really abysmal right now. 19/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD points out that teachers are absolutely stressed to the max. Remember, pre-pandemic, I was spending a lot of time covering teacher contract negotiations in @theSMSD: kcur.org/education/2020… 20/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD Michael Schumacher, interim assistant supt of human resources, says sub shortage vary building by building. Which makes sense. If a teacher has to isolate in one building, likely many of their peers will, too. 21/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD Teachers who've been asked to isolate or quarantine CAN teach remotely, if they wish to. It's good for kids, but not necessarily great for staff.

Teachers are sometimes being pulled out mid-day when they find out about an exposure. 22/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD Ousley suggests that the district may have to prioritize keeping schools open for younger students.

Then she stops. "We told you we would give you two weeks' notice. I'm telling all the parents of the districts right now that this community did not get its act together." 23/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD @EpiElizJoCo says yes, students can be in school safely. But from a staffing perspective, the reality is that schools probably will have to close again. 24/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD The meeting seems to be shifting to, "When are we going to have to make the decision to close?" versus "Will we have to close?"

Questions being asked:
- How much notice can we give families?
- Will we be able to reopen after Thanksgiving break? 25/

@theSMSD @EpiElizJoCo @jocogov @rpatrickdelaney @OusleyforSMSD @EpiElizJoCo doesn't seem confident that people's behaviors will change. She says we might get a reprieve when there's a vaccine and it warms up.

But KS won't get much vaccine in the beginning. Two-shot series, requires extreme cold storage. 26/

@OusleyforSMSD apologies for yet another depressing conversation: mental health. She says she knows parents are extremely concerned about their kids being isolated from their friends. 27/

Rev. Guy makes the point that most @theSMSD teachers who agreed to teach in-person didn't think schools would be open in the red zone. She expects more anxiety when they return after the holidays, knowing students' families may have flouted social distancing guidelines. 28/

Ousley asks where line is. She says the district did a good job communicating the gating criteria, and a lot of folks expected schools to close when the community entered the red zone. "How can we be in the red when we've been told this is the zone where it's no longer safe?" 29/

Guy seems to be advocating for @theSMSD to go remote-only from Thanksgiving through winter break when students will be spending time with families and likely not social distancing.

@EpiElizJoCo agrees it's "going to get darker" and Guy isn't wrong in her conclusions. 30/

JoCo Health is running out of capacity for contact tracing. They're getting a list with 400 people a day. They don't know which of those people are high-risk and what risks they pose to other individuals. 31/

@EpiElizJoCo is basically offering an impassioned plea for Johnson County to pull their weight in the group project that is controlling the pandemic.

Unfortunately, @theSMSD is having this meeting because that's not happening. 32/

Parents in @theSMSD are "on a daily basis" berating the school nurses trying to do contact tracing. They are REFUSING to participate when they get a call. 33/

Sports are way too dangerous right now, @EpiElizJoCo says. JoCo Health has said basketball and wrestling should not occur, but really, it's any contact sport. 34/

Fulton sounds FED UP with club sports and JoCo Parks & Rec sports. Because not everyone can access those sports (remember: SMSD is not as affluent as it once was). He says schools cannot do it alone, but they're being expected to solve all of society's problems. 35/

We're back after a quick bathroom break. Ousley wants to know where we're at with sports and activities. She doesn't see a functional difference between sports like basketball and wrestling and activities like band and choir when it comes to droplets. 36/

Fulton seems to be grappling with the fact that kids will just go play club sports and bring the coronavirus back to the district. He also sees this as an equity issue, since those sports typically cost money to play. 37/

Rev. Guy thinks that what the district should be voting on right now is remote learning from Thanksgiving through the winter break, with a return to school in January IF the spread is going back down. "I think we're going to be there anyway." 38/

Fulton says as written, he needs to stay within JoCo Health guidelines, which would mean no basketball or wrestling this winter. That's what's really being discussed: what parameters the district is going to put on sports. 39/

Board votes to REMOVE athletics from motion. With sports, it would've been to keep schools open but not do basketball/wrestling. Now, it's just to keep schools open, giving Fulton the authority to go a different direction on sports. 40/

OK. The board gives Fulton the authority to make the call on winter sports.

Now let's do some board comments. Then I'm gonna write this. Don't worry, I've already asked J to put some chicken nuggets in the oven to sustain me. I really only stress eat through board mtgs. 41/

BTW, Stratton is actually in quarantine right now. That's why he's participating remotely.

Thus concludes that 4 hour, 25 minute board meeting. Story @kcur if @ScottCanon and I don't fall asleep first. 42/42