By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green Board of Education set a Jan. 5 date for students returning to school – as long as the numbers add up on the matrix they also adopted during a special meeting Thursday evening.
The matrix will give families the exact criteria that will keep students learning online, allow them to come back in hybrid form, or make it possible for them to be back in school full time.
Unfortunately, the adoption of the matrix came on the same day Wood County turned into a red level county, and one day after Gov. Mike DeWine issued new requirements due to the spiking COVID numbers in Ohio.
Superintendent Francis Scruci said as the matrix was being designed by himself with board members Norm Geer and Tracy Hovest, it was originally thought that BG City Schools could come back to school in some form after Thanksgiving.
“We thought that might be a good time to make a go of it,” Scruci said.
But then the COVID numbers began a steep climb, so the start date was moved back to Jan. 5 – as long as the matrix thresholds are met.
“Ultimately, the matrix made this decision for us,” Hovest said.
Geer said by delaying the return to in-school classes until January, local residents can focus on getting the COVID numbers down. And board member Jill Carr said it would give families time to arrange child care and work schedules.
Board President Ginny Stewart thanked Geer, Hovest and Scruci for completing the “arduous task” of creating the matrix.
Bowling Green is the only school district in the county to not hold some in-person classes for students. When the board revisited the matter in October, it was decided that students who need additional learning or emotional supports should be identified and be brought into the buildings for assistance. At the same time, some extracurricular groups have been allowed to meet.
“We continue each day to evaluate what we’re doing,” Scruci said.
The decision was made to change up the hybrid model initially considered by the district. Instead of half of the students attending school on two days, and the other half on another two days, the students would rotate on two- or three-day weeks – with the deep cleaning of the buildings being performed on Saturdays.
Depending on the numbers, the matrix allows for periods when K-5 students would attend school in the hybrid model and grades 6-12 would remain remote. There are other times when K-5 students would attend school four days a week, and 6-12 grades would be hybrid. Hovest noted that the COVID rate among younger children is much lower than teens.
The matrix will be available for all to see on the school district’s website starting Monday. It will be updated every Monday, Scruci said.
The matrix identifies the following data:
- COVID incidence rates in the city of Bowling Green. The numbers from BGSU campus will not be included.
- Test positivity rates in the 43402 ZIP code area and in the schools.
- Ohio Department of Health risk level for Wood County.
- Percentage change in cases over 14-day time frame.
- Absenteeism in each school building.
Hovest said the data points came from the Centers for Disease Control.
“We did not come up with these numbers arbitrarily,” she said.
Scruci stressed that buildings will be evaluated individually, since the district does not want to shut down all the buildings if there is a problem in just one building.
Using the matrix, the numbers for today would not allow the district to hold in-person classes – with local COVID cases spiking, putting three of the categories at red level.
“We understand frustrations, but we also want to make sure our students are safe and families are safe,” Scruci said.
Next week, Scruci said the district will send out a survey to families to see if they are willing to send their children back to in-person classes, or if they want to opt for online NOVA classes.
“We’re giving our families a choice,” Hovest said.
The surveys will also ask parents for information on bus transportation and food service.
The effort made to create the matrix was recognized by Stewart and board member Jill Carr.
“I just appreciate the amount of work you put into this,” Carr said.
“I like the fact that pages on our website are understandable and parents will be able to check on it,” Stewart said.
Geer pointed out the need for the community to be committed to being safe.
“Everyday we’re setting a new record,” he said of the spiking numbers. If the community wants students back in school, “everybody needs to do their part.”
Though the students have not been in the schools, the district has spent close to $600,000 in grant funding to prepare the buildings for their return, Scruci said. Nurses have been hired so each building has its own, touchless water fountains have been added, along with plexiglas barriers, masks, cleaning products and hand sanitizer.
“We all want our students back in school,” Scruci said.
Also at the meeting, the board voted unanimously to select Ryan Myers to fill the board seat previously held by Bill Clifford. Six people had applied for the position and were interviewed by the board on Monday.
Stewart thanked all the applicants for going through the rigorous application process.
Myers, who ran for a position on the school board last year, is the supervisor of special education at Penta Career Center. Prior to that, he served as director and principal of special education at Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center. He has a valid Ohio Superintendent License and a valid Ohio Principal License for K-12.
“He’s somebody who’s committed his professional life to education,” Geer said. “He’s a welcome addition to the board.”
Myers noted the top three issues facing the school district – educating students during a global pandemic, the deteriorating and outdated school buildings, and healing the divide in the district.
“I offer a perspective of one that has seen these challenges” and came up with solutions, he wrote. “In terms of helping to heal the divide in the district, I have the calm and objective personality that elicits trust and reliability for the decision-making process.”
