By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison has two primary goals for local schools this coming year – keeping kids safe and in the classroom.
And the best way to do that is for parents to get their children 12 years and older vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Robison.
Robison met with Wood County superintendents last week to talk about public health’s projections of what schools will face when they return in the fall.
“As we move into this school year, our goal is to keep kids in the classrooms,” Robison said after the meeting.
Unlike last fall, when so much was still unknown about COVID-19, the school districts will return this year armed with the knowledge that transmission in classrooms was very rare, the health commissioner said.
“There were just a handful of times” when a new COVID case could be traced back to spread in a classroom, Robison said. “That’s a real benefit.”
But unlike last year, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is being seen in many regions – including in children who are not eligible yet for vaccines.
“We are watching the reports that Delta is spreading,” Robison said. None has been reported yet in Wood County. However, not all positive COVID cases are being sequenced to identify the Delta variant, he explained.
The variant poses great challenges since it is 50% more transmissible than the U.K. variant, which is 50% more transmissible than the original strain.
When it gets into a community, it’s difficult to stop the spread, Robison said.
The health department will have guidelines for starting the school year in place by mid-August for local districts.
That means giving the school districts strategies based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We’ll have resources to help them navigate what they see from COVID,” Robison said.
The health department will again inform the districts of the number of COVID cases in their communities.
“We want to help the schools have a sense of what’s happening in their communities and schools,” Robison said.
The guidelines will be available for the public to view on the health department website: www.woodcountyhealth.org.
The best way to keep students in school and in sports is to get them vaccinated, Robison said. Minors 12 years and older, accompanied by their parents or guardians, are eligible for the vaccine.
“The vaccine is highly effective,” he said. “It keeps kids in school and helps to keep communities safe.”
Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci told the board last week that the district is planning to make masks optional when students return in August. Perrysburg school district has announced the same plan.
Bowling Green will maintain protocols for physical distancing, handwashing, the COVID reporting process, cleaning of facilities, contact tracing, diagnostics and screening, vaccination information, and accommodations for children with special needs.
“We’re going to start the year where we ended – except masks are optional,” Scruci said.
However, Scruci reminded the board that the district must be flexible.
“We may have to punt if things change,” he said.
“We know the best way for kids to learn is to have them in the classroom, in front of teachers,” Scruci said.
