Carmel Schools Shift to Remote Learning Amid COVID-19 Surge
With rising COVID-19 cases placing an abundance of students, teachers and staff members in quarantine, Carmel school officials have opted to switch the district to remote learning through 2021.
During a special Board of Education meeting last Thursday, Interim Superintendent Eric Stark announced plans to shutter all schools through January 8. He said the current surge in coronavirus cases has placed a burden on the school district, asserting the health risk Putnam County faces with the holiday season underway.
All schools will begin remote learning on December 14, except for Carmel High School, which transitioned to remote learning on Monday due to a new positive COVID-19 case.
“At the district level, we believe that the next four weeks will be critical,” Stark said during the December 3 meeting. “With the infection rate where it is right now and especially if it continues to increase, we cannot sustain our current model without compromising many things, but above all without compromising the health and safety of our students and staff.”
Overall, the district will be closed for a total of 13 days, not including the holiday recess at the end of December.
While some board members citied some grievances with closing schools and the impact it’ll have on education, Stark explained there are inconsistencies in learning when students are placed in quarantine and teachers are expected to swiftly adapt to the situation. Stark indicated students would benefit from learning remotely on the same platform during this time.
Furthermore, he said the district has been bogged down working with the Department of Health to contact trace every time there’s a positive coronavirus case, adding with large numbers of teachers, teaching assistants, custodians, bus drivers, monitors, etc. in quarantine, the district is facing a staffing shortage.
“This directly impacts our schools and we have had quite an uptick in positive cases among our students and staff, as well as very large numbers of students and staff who have needed to quarantine,” Stark said. “As is the case throughout the region, we are having a lot of difficulty in finding substitutes in all categories of employees.”
Overall, 922 students have had to quarantine since September, officials said, with 48 percent, or 439, of those students quarantined in the last two weeks. Of the 158 staff members who have had to quarantine since September, 42 percent were also in the last two weeks.
Officials added that the district has also received several requests from parents to switch their children from in-person learning to remote learning, citing a fear their child could be exposed to the virus and forced into a quarantine that would disrupt the holidays.
While Stark stressed the decision to close wasn’t made lightly, Trustee Eric Mittelstadt called the districts findings and decisions “bogus.”
“I think this is an awful model and I’m not really in favor of it at all,” Mittelstadt said. “I think we should find a way to keep these kids in school as long as possible in any way possible, especially the K-4.”
Trustee Matt Vanacoro also urged officials to find a way to bring the elementary school grade levels back to school sooner.
As the district moves to remote learning, Stark said teachers will be allowed in the school buildings to teach from their classrooms. While there have been no furloughs at this time, Stark said a conversation on the topic between administrators and the Board of Education will begin this week.
Board Vice President Michelle Yorio said that while the board may be resistant to the district’s decision, it’s one they have to live with. The decision, which was made by Stark, did not require board approval.
“This is not an easy decision for any of you to make and there’s no easy choice here,” Yorio said. “Even though I would prefer to have everybody in school all the time, we don’t have to like it, we just have to live with it and let’s just hope we can get through this season without a tremendous uptick and that things can look a lot better moving forward when we return in January.”
