Coronavirus: Clark, Champaign districts gear up for full time in-person classes

Most school employees vaccinated
With masks and desks spaced apart, students at Simon Kenton Elementary work on classwork Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

With masks and desks spaced apart, students at Simon Kenton Elementary work on classwork Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Students on in-person learning options in school districts in Clark and Champaign counties starting Monday will return to the classroom full time, five days a week.

As part of Gov. Mike DeWine’s efforts to have most schools return to in-person learning by March 1, he made it a requirement for K-12 employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine in district’s that committed to returning by that date.

Most school employees in Clark and Champaign Counties have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The Clark County Combined Health District has vaccinated about 83% of school staff, according to Communications Coordinator Kyle Trout.

“This number could theoretically be higher if a K-12 employee was 65 or older, or had a qualifying medical condition and got the vaccine at a different time than all the rest of the K-12 individuals,” he said.

Nearly 80% of employees in the Springfield City School District signed up to receive the vaccine, according to Superintendent Bob Hill. Employees will receive their second dose on March 13.

“I am pleased by the outstanding efforts of our educators, staff and administrators for the patience and perseverance shown since March of last year. I cannot express sufficient gratitude for our team, as they have truly gone above and beyond to support our students and families,” he said.

Many schools in the county will be taking extra days off during the week of the vaccine clinics due to the potential side effects related to the second dose.

“Due to the potential side effects associated with the second dose of the vaccine, all Springfield City School District buildings will be closed on Monday, March 15. This scheduled closure will not be a virtual day, rather a day for our team to take care of themselves and rest if needed,” Hill said.

Employees of K-12 schools became eligible Feb. 1 to receive the coronavirus vaccine as part of the state’s Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout plan.

Throughout the school year, all districts offered students the option of virtual or in-person learning. For students who chose the virtual option in all school districts in both counties, they can continue using virtual learning for the remainder of the school year.

“The district reiterated its message to families this week that virtual learning students will remain online through the end of the school year,” Springfield schools said in a news release Wednesday.

Clark County school employees received the first dose of the vaccine on Feb. 10 or 13. They are scheduled to receive the second vaccine on March 11 or 13.

Some districts, including Clark-Shawnee, Northeastern and Tecumseh Local Schools, will have students learn virtually on March 11 and 12.

“Vaccinations for staff play a critical role in ensuring we have adequate staff to keep our schools open, especially as we prepare to transition to full-in learning,” said Northeastern Superintendent John Kronour.

Northwestern schools have over 77% of employees that signed up to be vaccinated, according to Superintendent Jesse Steiner. The district will have students learn virtually on March 12 and 15 for staff to receive the second dose of the vaccine.

“The reason for this is that we are seeing people in the general public who have the side effects or have some side effects after the second shot,” Steiner said. “This will allow us to continue to have class but if our staff members do have any side effects from the vaccine, they can be at home and still do the remote learning.”

Most Champaign County school employees received the first dose of the vaccine on Jan. 29 and Urbana City school employees received their first shot on Feb. 5. Most employees received the second dose of the vaccine on Feb. 19.

The Champaign Health District has vaccinated a little over 500 school staff, according to Health Commissioner Gabe Jones.

“For those who wanted the vaccine, we are close to 100%,” he said.

Mechanicsburg Exempted Village Schools, which has operated full-time, in-person since students returned in January from winter break, had 60% of employees vaccinated, according to Superintendent Danielle Prohaska.

“Vaccinations for staff only enhance the quality of our safety measures and provides an additional layer of protection for all parties so that we can continue to bring students to school daily,” Prohaska said. “Vaccinated staff increases our opportunity to remain open full-time with minimal disruptions to programs, classrooms and operations.”

Urbana will have roughly 130 staff vaccinated and Triad has about 80% of staff vaccinated, according to district superintendents.

School districts in both counties are seeing declines in coronavirus cases.

As of the week Feb. 9-15, there were 39 new student and staff cases reported at Ten Clark County and zero Champaign County school districts. Catholic Central, Emmanuel Christian Academy, Global Impact STEM Academy, Greenon, Northeastern, Northwestern, Southeastern, Springfield, Springfield-Clark County CTC and Tecumseh all reported cases.

The data from the state showed that there were no new cases reported with 166 cumulative cases at Champaign County schools for that week.

New reported cases for the week of Feb. 16-22 will be release today.


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