COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As coronavirus cases continue to rise, the Ohio Education Association (OEA) is urging Governor Mike DeWine to issue a statewide order for all schools to conduct remote learning until January 11.
“So, everybody who’s sick right now can get better, everybody who’s quarantining right now can fill out that quarantine and then come out safely on the other side,” said Scott DiMauro, president of the OEA.
Some school districts have already decided to do this, including Reynoldsburg, which is fully remote through the end of the year.
Me and every one in our district we want our kids in school. We miss them,” said Reynoldsburg Superintendent Dr. Melvin Brown. “However, we also have to weigh how this pandemic affects the adult community.”
As of December 3, Ohio’s schools have seen more than 23,000 total cases of COVID-19 with about 60 percent of those cases being students and about 40 percent being staff, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
“As the cases continue to rise, especially in November, people are just being overwhelmed,” DiMauro.
Overwhelmed — a feeling Dr. Brown says many of his teachers had before the decision to go fully remote.
“Our teachers have been concerned from the very beginning,” Dr. Brown said. “I think they felt as though they were at risk in many regards.”
Only 29 percent of Ohio students are in full in-person learning but 40 percent of Ohio school districts are in full in-person learning. One of those school is the Heath school district, but Heath Superintendent Dr. Trevor Thomas is grappling with that after the death of Athletic Director Ellis Booth.
“It’s hard not to rethink things when something like this happens,” Dr. Thomas said. “But I do believe that we are in the right place right now. I firmly believe that the safety protocols in school are higher than the safety protocols in our casual lives.”
But DiMauro wants to go a step further when it comes to school protocols.
“We’d like to see local health boards certify the school district’s plans . . . to make sure that we’re prioritizing student learning and safety at the same time,” DiMauro said.