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School Board member Dylan Hyde took to Facebook to suggest there are acceptable losses in returning to in person learning.  See his comments below:

You do not hear it much, but in terms of controlling COVID, Oregon is doing very well as compared to the rest of the United States. While half of the states have experienced at least 100 deaths per 100,000 people, Oregon has only experienced 38 deaths per 100,000 people (good enough for 5th best). And we currently have the 3rd lowest infection rate in the nation (behind only VT and HI). These encouraging numbers are certainly due at least in part to the state’s more-stringent-than-most restrictions.

Some people reasonably take these numbers to mean that what the state is doing is working and we should change nothing. I understand that position.
Others see these numbers and ask, “Yes, but which restrictions are making a difference, and which are not?” And “What are the costs of each restriction and at what point does the cost outweigh the benefit? For example, it probably is not worth closing every Oregon school for a year to save one life, but it is certainly worth it to save 100,000 lives. And if losing one life is acceptable and 100,000 is not, where do we draw that line?” These are the impossible questions school boards across our state are now being asked to answer.

For the past several months, I have read hundreds of emails and taken uncountable phone calls from people who feel passionately that schools should reopen and those who believe schools should remain closed. Both sides make compelling arguments that both sides too easily dismiss. I have done my best to listen to all with an open mind and heart. With our school board meeting occurring tonight, I am near making a final decision. I will share my thoughts here with two caveats. First, I speak only for myself and not my fellow board members. And second, these are my current thoughts only and I will be making no final decisions until I hear from the other board members at tonight’s meeting.

It is my belief that the schools within the West Linn-Wilsonville School District should open as soon as possible in the hybrid model the district proposed last summer and under the operational blueprints each school has created and within the framework of the Ready Schools, Safe Learners set out by the Oregon Health Authority. I believe Kindergartners should begin school on February 1, 2021 and all grades should gradually return with secondary students returning to school no later than March 1, 2021.

In reaching this position, the critical questions I asked myself was, “Will in-person learning worsen, reduce, or have no effect on the pandemic's course in the broader community? And if in-person learning spreads the transmission of COVID, by how much and is that increased risk worth the benefit to our students?”
To answer these questions, I looked to the science. My review of the latest scientific studies provides encouraging news. They show that schools with poorly-planned or poorly thought-out risk mitigating strategies, will increase community spread of Covid by returning to in-person learning. On the other hand, in schools with well-planned and well-implemented risk mitigation strategies, returning to in-person instruction will likely have no measurable effect on community transmission rates. This is certainly true in areas with low infection rates and likely true even in those areas with high infection rates. Again, I point out Oregon has the 3rd lowest infection rate in the country. Here is a very brief summary of some of the latest research:

- Tulane University Study published a study last Monday finding that in communities with 36 to 44 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, the re-opening of schools had no impact on community rates of Covid, or actually reduced community rates of Covid, likely because rules and norms around social distancing and wearing masks at school were not being followed outside of school. Of note, Clackamas County’s hospitalization rate has never exceeded 25 people per 100,000—well under the rate considered safe by this study.

- Last Friday, in a study published in Pediatrics, and conducted by researchers at Duke University, scientists studied 35 North Carolina school districts with 90,000 students engaged in in-person instruction over a school quarter. Over the studied quarter, the state’s infection rate remained between 1 and 2 people for every 1,000 residents. Inside these schools, the infection rates were low. Out of 90,000 students and thousands of teachers, vigorous contact tracing found just 32 cases of individuals contracting Covid within a school and zero cases of student to adult transmissions. No schools were closed during the quarter. The researchers noted that the mitigation efforts that allowed these schools to open as safely as they did are the same efforts we are looking to implement in our District.

- In Marin County California, they have approximately 16,500 students showing up for school per day, which equals about 640,000 “student days.” In that time, they have been able to detect just 6 cases of Covid transmission in the schools, all were adult-to-adult transmissions.

When I review this information, it leads me to conclude we can open our schools safely. Is the risk zero? No. The risk can never be zero. It will not be zero even after widespread distribution of vaccines. But the risks are quite low and the potential benefit to our students enormous.

I hear loud and clear that some want us to wait to open schools a bit longer. I disagree for the following reasons.

First, I do believe the costs to our children of not returning to school is too high. While CDL is working for many, it has been a disaster for many. I have spoken with principals who tell me that CDL is working better than anyone expected in terms of academic learning, but they have real concerns about the emotional and social well-being of their students. Further, Pamplin Media ran a story last week that shared its own findings that CDL was widening the achievement gap felt by students of color.

Second, as mentioned above, the best science indicates we can return to schools safely without increasing community rates of transmission.

Third, for the past 10 months, we have asked our critical workers to continue working despite the risk of Covid because their work is so critical: our doctors, our nurses, our food producers, our grocery store workers, our police, our first responders, and so on. I have loved ones who work in these professions. I think it is time we acknowledge that teachers are also essential workers, and we need them to return to schools.

And fourth, we have put in place safeguards to protect our most vulnerable students and staff. We have approximately 20% of our students currently signed up for all-year CDL. We also allowed our teachers to sign up for these classes, prioritizing those who were at high risk or lived with someone who was high risk. The district is also not going to be forcing any students to return who are not comfortable doing so. And as I expect there will be many families who choose to remain in CDL, I am hopeful we can accommodate even more teachers who prefer not to return to in-person instruction.

As mentioned above, I am also pushing for a re-opening that has kindergartners starting by February 1st and all students back by March 1st. Others want a slower, more stretched-out timeline. I do not yet understand the benefit of stretching out this timeline. I will keep an open mind and ask tonight the benefit of stretching out the return. If I do not hear compelling reasons for it, I will likely push for a more rapid return.

I also believe that we should be providing dates of return for all grade levels. I know that some school districts, such as Lake Oswego, are only providing return dates for grades K-5. Again, I do not see a reason for this. I would rather be in a position of having to explain why a return date needs to be changed rather than having to explain why we have no return date at all.

In the event the district does return to in-person instruction, it is important that parents realize that hybrid instruction will not be a “return to normal.” Kids will be in schools, but it will be different. Much different. I ask for your patience as schools adjust to this new approach. There will be bumps.  

Finally, thank you to everyone for making sure your voices are heard. Know that they are. And while many of us will not agree, please trust that each one of us comes here with the same goal in mind: to do what is best for our children and community. You cannot imagine the pressure on the board and district to get this right.

These are not simple choices and reasonable minds can disagree.

I will see many of you tonight.

Dylan

Feel free to share your thoughts.