{"id":33203,"date":"2020-08-24T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T11:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=33203"},"modified":"2020-09-08T10:23:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T15:23:42","slug":"oklahoma-schools-covid-19-guidelines-are-widely-ignored-by-many-rural-districts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/08\/24\/oklahoma-schools-covid-19-guidelines-are-widely-ignored-by-many-rural-districts\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma schools COVID-19 guidelines are widely ignored by many rural districts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_33209\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33209\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-672x325.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-672x325.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-1920x929.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-768x372.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-150x73.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-300x145.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/118070249_3882309021785133_235195167133809808_o-620x300.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Oklahoma State School Boards Association<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map created by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association shows which counties are in different alert levels based on State Department of Education guidelines. Eighteen counties -with more than 130 school districts &#8211; have been at Orange Level 2 or above during the month of August but only six will start the year in distance learning, according to a survey conducted by StateImpact and The Oklahoman.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/ec0feb4d-1da8-4a1a-8480-99a1b18464a8?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>The 800 residents of Dewar have been fairly split.<\/p><p>Half of the eastern Oklahoma town\u2019s parents told the local school district they refused to send their children to school with a mask, Superintendent Todd Been said. The other half wouldn\u2019t send their children unless everyone wore one.<\/p><p>About 60% of Dewar Public Schools\u2019 student body intended to come back in person. Forty percent preferred online classes.<\/p><p>Now, none of Dewar\u2019s 450 students will return on the first day of school. Quarantines depleted staff numbers and forced the district to start the year with distance learning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>\u201cI just got to looking at it, and I just thought, \u2018My goodness, out of 30 people, out of 30 teachers, I\u2019m going to be starting the school year with six employees basically gone because of COVID-related reasons,\u2019\u201d Been said. \u201cI thought, \u2018That\u2019s a fifth of my staff. How are we going to have school with a fifth of my staff gone?\u2019\u201d<\/p><p>Okmulgee County had the makings of a COVID-19 hotspot at the beginning of August, right as Dewar was preparing to open school. Its rates of positive cases rose so high the Oklahoma State Department of Education recommended all schools in the county start the year virtually.<\/p><p>The state advises schools to close and have students learn from home when their county reaches Orange Level 2 \u2014 25 cases per 100,000 people \u2014 in the state\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.health.ok.gov\/sites\/g\/files\/gmc786\/f\/county_risk_levels_trends_20200820.pdf\">color-coded alert system<\/a>.<\/p><p>Dewar is one of very few school districts to heed that advice. The Oklahoman and StateImpact surveyed 136 districts in counties at Orange Level 2 or the higher Red Level and found only six will start the year with distance learning.<\/p><p>The scarcity of schools starting online in areas of high community spread is \u201cconcerning,\u201d said Ashley Weedn, a pediatrician at Children&#8217;s Hospital at OU Medicine.<\/p><p>Children might not appear to have serious symptoms. However, there&#8217;s emerging evidence of long-term effects from the coronavirus and firm, scientific evidence that children are &#8220;silent spreaders&#8221; in communities, she said. Children are likely more contagious and have a significantly higher level of the virus in their airways, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/news\/press-release\/Massachusetts-general-hospital-researchers-show-children-are-silent-spreaders-of-virus-that-causes-covid-19\">a study released Thursday<\/a>\u00a0from Massachusetts General Hospital.<\/p><p>Weedn is part of the joint COVID-19 response task force of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32507\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32507\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-672x433.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-672x433.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-1920x1238.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-768x495.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-150x97.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-300x193.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-620x400.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Hoffmeister-and-Stitt-1675x1080.jpeg 1675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, pictured during a March press conference, have been at odds over whether or not school districts should require masking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Masks often not mandated<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div id=\"from-the-homepage-511985\" class=\"d-print-none\"><p>Mask wearing is the single most important strategy for schools to limit COVID-19\u2019s spread, she said.<\/p><p>Roughly a third of the school districts The Oklahoman and StateImpact surveyed will require students and staff to wear face coverings. Some districts mandate them in hallways and on buses but not in classrooms.<\/p><p>The joint task force of pediatricians urged Gov. Kevin Stitt to enact a statewide mask mandate, but the governor has resisted those requests.<\/p><p>&#8220;The lack of implementation of the (state Education Department\u2019s) recommendations for masking is inadequate,&#8221; Weedn said. &#8220;We need to do better for our children, their families and our teachers.&#8221;<\/p><p>Stitt spent $10 million in federal aid to give masks and PPE to schools in all corners of the state, but he declined to say whether districts should require students and teachers to wear them.<\/p><p>\u201cSuperintendents, they\u2019re closer to the action, they\u2019re closer to the parents,\u201d Stitt said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoman.com\/article\/5669458\/state-delivers-10-million-in-ppe-to-schools\">at a PPE warehouse on Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m going to leave that up to our local school districts to determine.\u201d<\/p><p>The Oklahoma State Board of Education has taken a similar stance. The board, the majority of whom Stitt appointed,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoman.com\/article\/5667505\/state-school-board-rejects-mandate-for-masks-closures\">voted 4-3 not to require any COVID-19 policies<\/a>\u00a0for schools. Instead, the board made its COVID-19 Alert System a set of recommendations, though state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister advocated for them to be mandatory.<\/p><p>Hofmeister said schools must require masks if they hope to safely reopen.<\/p><p>\u201cWe beg (districts) to consult with the public health officials in their county and then be willing to take the actions necessary, even if they&#8217;re unpopular, to keep your students and those who serve in schools safe and able to stay open for the sake of our kids,\u201d she said. \u201cThey need to have a fighting chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33210\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33210\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-672x504.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-672x504.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-620x465.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-1440x1080.jpeg 1440w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-1832x1374.jpeg 1832w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-1376x1032.jpeg 1376w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-1044x783.jpeg 1044w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-632x474.jpeg 632w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Resized_Resized_20200823_112630-536x402.jpeg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The McAlester Public Schools Administration Building. McAlester Public Schools will welcome students back next week despite Pittsburg County being in a COVID-19 hotspot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>\u2018School is different\u2019<\/strong><\/h3><p>As Adair County became a hot spot in early August, the state\u2019s COVID-19 Alert System advised Stilwell Public Schools to start with online courses. To follow state guidance, Superintendent Geri Gilstrap recommended a distance learning plan for all 1,300 students.<\/p><p>Among Stilwell\u2019s 4,000 residents, 261 have tested positive for COVID-19 and five have died.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>But the Stilwell Board of Education voted against Gilstrap\u2019s recommendation. The board believed if all students and staff adhered to safety measures, including a mask mandate, classes could continue in person.<\/p><p>Gilstrap said families in Stilwell made it clear to the board they wanted their children back in the classroom.<\/p><p>\u201cI really think that was the basis for the board&#8217;s decision,\u201d Gilstrap said. \u201cWhat they wanted was a reflection of what the community wanted, and that\u2019s why the decision was made to come back to school.\u201d<\/p><p>Stilwell has not found any positive cases in the district since reopening, Gilstrap said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>However, other districts have pushed forward with traditional returns, even after students and teachers tested positive.<\/p><p>Boise City Public Schools delayed its return date on Aug. 12 after discovering cases among its staff. The Panhandle district intends to reopen in person on Aug. 31, despite recording the highest per-capita rate of new cases in Oklahoma last week.<\/p><p>Boise City plans to have its 300 students return with no requirement to wear masks and no option for online classes, the district confirmed.<\/p><p>This runs contrary to advice from local and national health experts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>In a recent visit to Oklahoma, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx advised state officials that all students and school staff should wear masks \u201cat the minimum,\u201d said Hofmeister, who attended the private meeting with Birx.<\/p><p>\u201cIt is troubling when I think about districts just forging ahead as if this is the start of school 2019,\u201d Hofmeister said. \u201cIt isn&#8217;t. School is different. It is going to be different whether they believe it or not.\u201d<\/p><p>In a county with high community spread, McAlester Public Schools plans to have all of its 3,000 students return Aug. 31. The McAlester school board approved a plan to have its student body\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoman.com\/article\/5669649\/mcalester-schools-to-reopen-amid-state-high-covid-19-rate\">alternate in-person classes<\/a>\u00a0for the first week of school, beginning Tuesday.<\/p><p>The district chose a traditional return despite McAlester and Pittsburg County having some of the highest per-capita rates of COVID-19 in the state, far exceeding Orange Level 2 when schools are advised to have distance learning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-rail float-right\">\n<div class=\"advertisement d-print-none bg-light border border-light\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-article-rail-10\" class=\"d-inline-block\" data-google-query-id=\"CLD4ps-esusCFQPrwAodJYAAtA\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/11564835\/oklahoman.com\/lifestyle_9__container__\">\u00a0But face-to-face education is difficult to abandon, said Don Wise, assistant superintendent at McAlester.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>\u201cIt scares me to look to other types of formats where our teachers have less experience,\u201d Wise said. \u201cThey are going to struggle with making sure that the students are learning at the same levels that they would in the traditional setting.<\/p><p>\u201cYou\u2019re not going to have the same outcomes with the students. In my mind it\u2019s not as good an environment as a traditional setting where the teachers have all of their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33211\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 538px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33211\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-538x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"538\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-538x672.jpg 538w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-1536x1920.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-620x775.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis-864x1080.jpg 864w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Terry-Heustis.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy Westville Public Schools<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terry Heustis, Superintendent of Westville Public Schools in Adair County. Heustis has enacted a rotational A\/B schedule at his school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>\u2018Told what to do\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>State leaders have allowed local districts to choose their own policies, but superintendents say the decision-making hasn\u2019t been easy.<\/p><p>Been, of Dewar, said he \u201cwanted to be told what to do\u201d by a state mandate that set clear requirements for masks and distance learning.<\/p><p>Superintendent Terry Heustis said he felt the same way when deciding how to reopen Westville Public Schools. A state order directing all Oklahoma public schools would have taken pressure off his shoulders.<\/p><p>Yet, the flexible guidelines allowed Heustis to craft a split A\/B schedule that would reduce school crowds and keep students home half the week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>Not everyone in Westville agreed with the decision.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a rough day,\u201d Heustis said as he joined a Zoom call with reporters. \u201cI got cussed first thing this morning about our plan.\u201d<\/p><p>Been also fielded phone calls from angry parents who questioned how they could teach their children while working eight hours a day.<\/p><p>Been said he understands the challenges working parents will face this school year. He doesn\u2019t know how his pre-K instructor will teach 4-year-olds to hold a pencil through a computer screen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gut text-serif\"><p>The school district already had to quarantine 19 students and three staff members who were exposed to COVID-19 in the Dewar football weight room. Those students and employees were just coming out of quarantine when Been learned six more teachers either tested positive or were exposed to someone with the virus.<\/p><p>Okmulgee County\u2019s COVID-19 rate has decreased in recent weeks, but Been still isn\u2019t convinced it\u2019s safe to reopen.<\/p><p>\u201cI think face-to-face (education) is absolutely the best,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my case, if a teacher\u2019s not there, then there is no face-to-face.\u201d<\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><i>StateImpact health reporter Catherine Sweeney and KOSU agriculture and rural issues reporter Seth Bodine contributed reporting to this story.This COVID-19\/education reporting is made possible through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. It was prepared by The Oklahoman\u00a0and StateImpact Oklahoma and distributed through the Oklahoma Media Center project Changing Course: Education and COVID.<\/i><\/div>\n<div><i>The Oklahoma Media Center is a collaborative of 18 Oklahoma newsrooms that includes print, broadcast and digital partners.\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 800 residents of Dewar have been fairly split.Half of the eastern Oklahoma town\u2019s parents told the local school district they refused to send their children to school with a mask, Superintendent Todd Been said. The other half wouldn\u2019t send their children unless everyone wore one.About 60% of Dewar Public Schools\u2019 student body intended to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":33208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33203"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33253,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33203\/revisions\/33253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}