The Crookston School Board had a special meeting on Thursday evening and voted to stay in distance learning through December 22, which is the last day of school before Christmas break.
DISTANCE LEARNING DECISION
The board heard from Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese. She told the board that from November 26 to December 2 there have been 333 new cases in Polk County, 40 people are hospitalized, and 8 are in ICU, and a few additional deaths. “When we look at the progression of COVID-19 and how the doubling factor is happening,” said Reese. “We had 836 cases all the way from the beginning of COVID to October 29. Since then our cases have tripled, so a tripling of cases in the county is concerning and we are at 2715 cases.”
Polk County has been doing a lot of testing and the positive case rate is at 7.3 percent, up from around 5 percent last week. “Those numbers are going up,” said Reese. “When it gets to five percent positivity that’s where we raise our eyebrows from a Public Health perspective. The data suggests a distance learning model.”
Click below to listen to all of Reese’s comments –
Dave Davidson made the motion to go distance learning to December 22. Tim Dufault seconded the motion. Mike Theis asked about the COVID numbers in the two elementary schools and there have been two positive cases at Washington School and 7 positive cases at Highland School. Theis said he has huge reservations about not having the elementary students in school. Board Chair Frank Fee agreed and said he was ready to go in-person learning in the elementary schools, but changed his mind when he got the latest numbers for Crookston and Polk County.
The board voted 4-1 to stay distance learning through December 22 (which would be the last day of instruction before the Christmas break). Frank Fee, Dave Davidson, Adrianne Winger, and Tim Dufault voted yes, while Mike Theis voted no. “It is absolutely not the way I wanted to go. When I got here this morning, I wanted to go in-person for at least the elementary, but after reviewing the data and numbers and where we are at with this pandemic locally I couldn’t bring myself to make a recommendation of distance learning extending through Christmas break,” said Superintendent Olson. “It was a difficult decision, and I will say that is one of the more tough decisions I have had to make in Crookston because I believe so strongly in in-person instruction and that is best for kids. However, I have to make sure I am keeping people safe.”
The board heard from a Crookston High School student-athlete Reese Swanson and her comments are below.
The board also heard from a mother of two children in the Crookston School District, Katie Fee, and her comments are below.
Crookston School District Superintendent Jeremy Olson, a parent of four kids in the Crookston schools, responded to the two speakers and his comments are below.
The board agreed to discuss athletics at the next regularly scheduled school board meeting, on December 14 at 6:00 p.m. For the latest Polk County COVID-19 numbers, click here.
EXTENSION OF EMERGENCY LEAVE
The board voted 5-0 to approve an extension of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act emergency leave for employees, which was set to expire on December 31. Superintendent Jeremy Olson said he would like to extend it until the staff gets the vaccine. Money to pay for the extension would come out of the general fund and he doesn’t have an estimate on what it could cost the district. “We received a mandate to put 10 days in place for staff members that need to quarantine or something like that,” said Superintendent Olson. “They can tap into this leave so they don’t take away from their sick time, personal time, whatever the case may be.”
MORE PREP TIME FOR TEACHERS
The board unanimously approved more prep time for teachers as part of Governor Tim Walz’s order. The order requires 30 minutes of additional prep time per day. “The board looked at the number of minutes already given and added three more days of prep time,” said Superintendent Olson. “We will use February 24, March 24, and April 28 as staff prep time days.”
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