Minnesota school districts will be granted some flexibility in their reopening decisions, depending on the spread of COVID-19 in their communities, under a plan released today by Gov. Tim Walz.
The governor said the state is taking a “localized, data-driven approach” to reopening schools amid the global pandemic, setting thresholds that must be met — both in terms of the spread of the virus and schools’ ability to meet health and safety standards — if schools are going to open their doors to students.
“As we look to this fall…this is going to be a first day of school unlike any we’ve seen,” Walz said.
The 21-page “Safe Learning Plan” for schools uses state Department of Health tracking of new virus cases as the first hurdle schools have to jump to be able to reopen. To fully reopen, a county would need to have fewer than 9 cases of the virus per 10,000 residents over a 14-day period. Schools in counties with higher case counts could attempt to reopen on a more limited basis for full or part-time classes, with younger students getting priority for in-person instruction. All schools in counties with more than 50 cases per 10,000 residents would have to be fully online.
The plan outlines how schools would work with state health and education officials to evaluate how the virus is spreading in local communities, whether school districts are prepared to implement rules about mask wearing, daily cleaning and health screenings, and how teachers and other staff members would be tested if there are cases of the virus in a school building.
“We are going to make sure that we give you the tools necessary,” Walz said. “That is going to mean making sure that we are testing in our schools.”
In schools that do open, masks would be required — and provided by the state — for both students and teachers. As in the first months of the pandemic, schools that are not fully open would be required to provide free childcare for school-age children of critical workers. Schools will also have to accommodate any students that do not want to return to in-person classes with options for full-time distance learning.
In a letter introducing the plan, the governor said it’s important for local school leaders to work with health officials and make the decisions that make sense for their communities — but that they should be prepared to shift gears if necessary.
“Throughout the school year, we will need to be flexible and adapt with the fluid nature of this pandemic,” Walz wrote.
Michael Osterholm, executive director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, on Thursday offered praise for a school reopening plan that has “informed flexibility.” School districts will be encouraged to tailor and adjust their approaches over time based on the spread of the virus, he said.
“It allows for the flexibility that schools are going to need right now because conditions are going to continue to change between now and the time we hopefully get an effective vaccine,” he said.
Evidence in other nations has shown that schools safely reopened when there was low or declining COVID-19 transmission in surrounding communities, he said.
“We now know that, in fact, much of the risk related to school-based transmission is also related to what’s going on inside the community,” Osterholm said. “If we can drive down transmission in the community, schools will be a much safer place.”
Responses won’t differ just by district, but by schools within the district, he added, because high school students present more risks for spreading COVID-19 in their communities compared with children in elementary schools.
“I don’t think there’s any evidence that the younger kids are a prime source for transmission in the community,” he said.
Because districts may have flexibility as they design their plans, most will be unlikely to be ready to answer all of the questions facing teachers, school staff and families as they wrap up the final weeks of summer break.
State officials’ earlier guidance to school districts said in-person instruction could be feasible only if the local spread of the COVID-19 virus was stabilized or improved, a variable that could still shift before most schools start in early September. Districts were directed to plan for multiple scenarios — and the potential that they might have to be more or less restrictive, depending on the virus.
In districts that can use a“hybrid” instruction model, with some classes happening online and students attending school in person part time, there is likely to be wide variation in the decisions about which students can be at school, and when.
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Education have said school districts will also have the flexibility to decline or limit in-person instruction, even if the state allows it. At least one district has already indicated that it is planning to start the year with schools closed; Minneapolis Public Schools officials outlined their plans in a meeting earlier this week, saying they intend to keep students at home for distance learning. Under the plan, some Minneapolis schools would be open on a limited basis for help with tutoring, technology and mental health services.
School sports and activities also remain an open question. Decisions in high school sports will need to be more collaborative due to conferences and game schedules, but Osterholm said he is concerned about those activities based on recent outbreaks among players in Major League Baseball and outbreaks among college students that appear partly tied to athletic participation.
“Major League Baseball is demonstrating the challenge of sports,” he said.
In other states, a growing list of large school districts have said they’ll also keep students at home this fall, including those in Denver, Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta. In some cases, plans to reopen schools fully or in a hybrid model have been shelved and replaced with more restrictions. President Donald Trump has called for schools to fully reopen, and the debate over safety, student achievement and the economic realities of school closures have prompted vigorous political debate around the country.
In Minnesota, Walz’ decision comes after a summer in which hospital admission rates for people with COVID-19 — a key indicator of the virus’ spread — declined before starting to tick up again. Surveys issued by the state Department of Education, individual school districts and the teachers union indicate mixed feelings about schools reopening.
Education Minnesota, the union representing about 80,000 Minnesota teachers, said its survey showed teachers split over the idea of returning to the classroom, with fewer than 1 in 5 supporting the idea of classes resuming full time.
An informal Minnesota Department of Education survey of parents, which drew more than 130,000 responses, found that a majority of parents said they were comfortable sending their children back to school, and most of that group wanted full-time instruction at school.
Of the survey respondents who self-identified their race, white parents were the most likely to say they’d send their children back to school, with 65% saying they’d feel comfortable.
Respondents from groups that have been disproportionately affected by the virus were among the least likely to feel comfortable with that prospect; just under half of Black and Latino parents said they’d be ready for schools to open, along with about 56% of American Indian parents. Asian parents were the least comfortable with returning to school; just 39% said they were ready to send their children back.
Staff writer Glenn Howatt contributed to this report.
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'Localized' Minnesota school plan sets thresholds for reopening - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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