ST PAUL, Minn. — As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations climb in Minnesota, parents like Kim Schwieters are monitoring the data closely.
She has two children attending Mahtomedi High School, which on Thursday joined a list of school facilities reporting five or more confirmed cases.
“The numbers today, when they came out… we were disheartened,” Schwieters said.
Schwieters and other parents had been planning a rally on Thursday, after learning earlier this week the district might consider switching secondary schools from hybrid to full distance learning. She said they canceled the rally after finding out the high school had joined the list of schools with five or more cases, feeling it might be inappropriate timing and unsafe to gather.
But parents still want the district to be careful as it moves forward. The school board will still meet Monday to discuss COVID-19 data and the potential move from hybrid to all-online at the middle and high school levels.
Schwieters and others say they’re not opposed to distance learning if it’s warranted, but they worry that the recent outbreak at the Stillwater prison is driving Washington County’s COVID-19 caseload.
“Our hope is that, when they meet on Monday, and they discuss this,” Schwieters said, “that they have taken that time to really look at what’s going on in the high school.”
Districts across Minnesota are engaging in similar discussions, including District 196 covering Rosemount, Apple Valley and Eagan. A spokesperson confirmed Thursday that their middle and high schools will move all-online starting November 12.
Overall, six additional counties are now recommended for all-distance learning, based on the latest county-level data from the Minnesota Department of Health.
A Department of Education dashboard shows that 16 percent of districts and charter schools are online-only right now. Another 16 percent are in-person, 26 percent are hybrid, and 43 percent are considered a “combination.”
In White Bear Lake, the district will move to online-only for high school and middle school starting with the second week in November.
Beth Clymer, who teaches fourth grade in the district, will remain in a hybrid format.
“We feel bad for the kids and the families,” Clymer said, “that are having to make last minute adjustments to their day-to-day life.”
Clymer told KARE 11 a few weeks ago that the hybrid model has been challenging for teachers, partly because they are instructing in-person and online learners at the same time. Fortunately, Clymer said, there may be some reinforcement on the way to help lighten the load.
“We have heard that we are getting full-time distance learning teachers,” Clymer said. “I feel like it’s that little glimmer of hope, to keep us teachers moving along here.”