Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) said on Monday that shutting down in-person learning and switching the district to remote learning is “not an option”.
An email sent out to staff by MNPS, which was obtained by FOX17, stated, “So, to be clear, switching the district to remote learning during this wave is not an option, and closing schools is not an option without extending the school year into the summer.” This is in compliance with current state guidelines. While individual classrooms or schools may temporarily switch to remote learning for up to seven days, school districts are not allowed to. The need must also be documented.
As previously reported, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced on Monday that the city had attained a record high number of positive cases for COVID-19, with 5,389 new cases since Thursday and 10,186 over the past week. He added that the figure was approximately double the previous high week in January 2021.
Metro Nashville Public Schools said on Monday that they will not be closing down schools or switching to distance learning in response to the spike in COVID-19 cases and that students will be returning to school on Friday, January 7th as scheduled.
Metro Nashville Public Schools were closed in the spring of 2020 with distance learning offered to students but returned to in person learning for the fall of 2020. In between then and now, there have been some sporadic closings and quarantines of students and staff. Virtual learning has been sharply criticized by some.
Metro Nashville School Board member Fran Bush recently told WSMV, “Our students suffered tremendously during the virtual space. We had over 25,000 students that became truant, which we have never seen before. It was a platform that was very rigorous. We saw a lot of students fail and really needed a lot of support.”
The district spokesperson said to FOX17 that staff and students will be required to follow the CDC guidelines. If a staffer or a student does test positive, they will need to isolate for five days but will be given distance opportunities to work or learn. In a change made because of new state law, students with close contact to a positive case do not have to quarantine.
MNPS has not changed their mask policy and is continuing to encourage all staff and students to get vaccinated. Per the email obtained by FOX17 that was sent: “Finally, as a reminder, masks are still required for all students, staff, and visitors in our school buildings based on MNPS Board policy and in concurrence with a federal court order. Over the next few weeks will be distributing KN95 masks to schools for staff to use as needed.” A federal judge has blocked the new state law banning schools from issuing mask mandates, a ruling which is on appeal.
As of Monday, the state of Tennessee reports that 61 pediatric (Ages 0-17) COVID patients are hospitalized, with 9 patients in the ICU. In Davidson County, 1,165 children between the ages of 5-18 tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two weeks. Since they started tracking case numbers, there have been 16,579 COVID cases in that same age group.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Metro Nashville Classroom” by Metro Nashville Public Schools.
