Vague CCSD message on COVID-19 angers some parents

Parents of immoderate Clark County School District students are upset astir a vague connection from territory officials astir the reopening of schools amid a surge of COVID-19 cases, saying it lacked “clarity and details.”

More than 300,000 students instrumentality to classrooms Wednesday aft wintertime break, a time aft teachers and immoderate different employees study for a unit improvement time successful the nation’s fifth-largest schoolhouse district.

The schoolhouse territory connected Monday didn’t respond to a Review-Journal petition for an interrogation oregon further accusation astir its plans for resuming in-person teaching successful the midst of a crisp surge successful the pandemic successful the county.

But successful a connection to parents connected Thursday, the territory said it’s moving with section and authorities wellness officials to “monitor ongoing COVID-19 developments” and is “aware of the caller surge successful positivity rates successful our community.”

“Mitigation strategies” are successful spot to support the wellness of students and employees done “cleaning protocols,” the territory said, noting that a authorities disguise mandate remains successful effect.

If a pupil isn’t feeling well, has COVID-19 symptoms oregon has been exposed to idiosyncratic who has tested positive, “They indispensable enactment location from schoolhouse until cleared to return,” the connection said.

Those precautions each person been successful spot since the resumption of in-person classes successful outpouring 2021, agelong earlier the more-contagious omicron variant arrived successful the region and state, parents interviewed by the Review-Journal noted.

The lone portion of caller accusation successful the connection was that the territory intends to travel caller Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance connected isolations and quarantines. The connection did not supply details connected the caller rules, though the CDC past week approved easing isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans infected by the coronavirus from 10 to 5 days and shortening the clip that adjacent contacts request to quarantine. The caput of the schoolhouse administrators national confirmed Monday that the territory plans to travel those guidelines.

Lack of ‘clarity and details’

Rebecca Garcia, president of the Nevada PTA and an head for the “CCSD Parents” Facebook group, said Monday that she thinks parents are much anxious and person much questions astir this reopening than adjacent aboriginal past year, erstwhile students returned to in-person classes aft a astir yearlong shutdown of authorities schools due to the fact that of the pandemic.

She said the Facebook group’s members are divided implicit the existent situation, with immoderate parents wanting schools to enactment unfastened for in-person acquisition nary substance what and immoderate successful favour of astatine slightest temporarily returning to distant learning.

But she said some sides hold that the connection coming from the schoolhouse territory “lacks clarity and details,” adding that its deficiency of transparency lone “breeds much distrust.”

Some parents are disquieted whether schools volition person the quality to enactment unfastened for in-person classes and astir issues specified arsenic cleaning protocols and aerial filtration, she said.

Parent Gregory Brown, who has 1 kid successful simple schoolhouse and 1 successful mediate school, is among them.

He said the missive from the schoolhouse territory to parents past week referenced “cleaning protocols,” but contained nary details astir the process. Nearly 2 years into the pandemic, there’s beardown technological grounds the microorganism spreads done airborne transmission, helium noted, “so I conjecture I wonderment ‘What is the cleaning protocol?’ due to the fact that it would seemingly person to person ventilation, aerial filtration and prime look masks.”

“Parents merit and teachers merit to cognize what is really happening,” helium said.

Garcia said schoolhouse staffing besides is simply a large interest for galore parents, with the territory already facing a major worker shortage adjacent earlier the caller surge forces much workers to isolate oregon quarantine. That has parents wondering if schools that enactment unfastened volition person 80 students moving connected laptops successful an auditorium, she said.

Other areas of concern

Another large interest among parents is the repeated connection from the schoolhouse territory to “keep your children location with immoderate benignant of symptoms.” While that’s evidently a bully wellness decision, Garcia said attendance rules are inactive being enforced astatine immoderate schools and students are getting penalized for missing classes.

Many teachers and different territory employees besides were voicing concerns Monday astir the instrumentality connected societal media, with galore expressing the aforesaid concerns arsenic parents astir whether the territory volition beryllium capable to support campuses unfastened and complaining astir the deficiency of accusation from CCSD.

Jeff Horn, enforcement manager of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional Technical Employees union, said that the national believes the schoolhouse territory “has a work to guarantee that students and unit are moving and learning successful a harmless environment.”

Given the captious labour shortage compounded by a higher complaint of COVID infections, “District enactment volition beryllium hard-pressed to efficaciously code this ongoing challenge,” helium said, adding that that the national volition enactment with the territory to make arsenic harmless an ambiance arsenic possible.

Other worker unions did not respond to a petition for remark connected Monday.

A ample bulk of schoolhouse districts astir the federation are readying to resume in-person classes aft wintertime break. But a fistful — including respective Atlanta-area districts, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Newark — program to statesman the caller semester astatine slightest temporarily with region learning.

And immoderate of the nation’s largest schoolhouse districts are readying measures specified arsenic ramping up COVID-19 investigating to woody with the surge.

In the Las Vegas Valley, a batch of radical person moved successful during the pandemic and there’s consciousness of what different schoolhouse districts crossed the state are doing, Garcia said, noting that is spurring questions astir Clark County schoolhouse policies.

The Clark County School Board voted 5-1 successful September to o.k. an employee COVID-19 vaccination mandate. It allows for aesculapian and spiritual exemptions. But it’s inactive unclear erstwhile the mandate could instrumentality effect since there’s nary timeline for erstwhile employees indispensable supply impervious of vaccination.

There’s nary COVID-19 vaccination request for students.

The schoolhouse district’s online COVID-19 lawsuit dashboard shows 7,026 cases person been reported since July 1 — 4,497 among students, 2,042 among schoolhouse unit and 487 among cardinal staff.

Clark County arsenic a full has seen 19,269 reported COVID-19 cases, 119 hospitalizations and 2 deaths among 5-to-11-year-olds during the pandemic, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. For 12-to-17-year-olds, 23,753 cases, 175 hospitalizations and 3 deaths person been reported.

A pediatrician weighs in

Dr. David Di John, a pediatrician and infectious illness specializer for UNLV’s Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, said Monday helium has seen an summation successful pediatric COVID-19 cases astatine hospitals wherever helium attends — either children with symptoms oregon an incidental diagnosis erstwhile they travel successful for different reasons.

“This is astir arsenic engaged arsenic it’s been arsenic acold arsenic pediatric cases,” helium said.

Di John said helium has besides seen an summation successful multisystem inflammatory syndrome successful children cases, often seen successful the weeks pursuing a COVID-19 infection. The Southern Nevada has reported 101 of those cases during the pandemic.

As section schools hole to reopen this week, mitigation measures already successful spot are important — particularly, since the omicron variant is much contagious, helium said.

Di John said commercialized masks designed for usage successful hospitals supply amended protection. A KN95 mask, for instance, is mostly superior to a cloth disguise and N95 masks are adjacent better, but they’re alternatively hard to support connected for a agelong play of time, helium added.

Di John said he’s not needfully advocating for those types of masks successful school, but noted a “high-quality mask” is needed portion indoors.

He besides recommended distancing wrong schoolhouse spaces to the grade possible. And helium said capable gathering ventilation is important, noting “I can’t accent that enough.”

Di John said he’s each successful favour of keeping schools unfastened for in-person instruction. A communal consciousness measurement for students and employees is to enactment location if you’re not feeling well, helium said, and to usage grounds checks combined with testing.

There tin beryllium a scope of COVID-19 symptoms successful children, Di John said, including nonaccomplishment of sensation and smell, nasal congestion, cough and a fever, and gastrointestinal symptoms specified arsenic nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

He besides said school-aged children who are 5 and older should beryllium immunized against COVID-19. While that doesn’t needfully forestall being infected with the virus, “that volition support them against superior disease.”

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener astatine jgreener@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton connected Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.