Marion County health leader: In-person classes can resume by Jan. 4

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Schools in Marion County can reopen to in-person learning by Jan. 4, the city’s health department leader and mayor said Thursday during a coronavirus briefing.

That’s for students in grades 1-12.

The Marion County Public Health Department made the change based on data analysis. Dr. Virginia Caine, the department director, said in a videoconference that data shows kids in elementary through high school are not big contributors to the overall positivity rate. Also, new isolation recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pushed leaders to move the return to in-person learning date up two weeks.

Indianapolis Public Schools later Thursday, despite Caine’s announcement, issued a statement that said, in part: “We believe it will be critical to assess the conditions and data after the Winter Break in order to make a determination if it is safe to return to in-person learning prior to the already scheduled January 19 date.”

Caine says Marion County students in grades 1-12 can return to schools on Jan. 4 but must follow these guidelines:

• Students and staff must be socially distanced.
• Masks are required by students and staff in Grade 3 and higher.
• Parents, students, and teachers should avoid unnecessary contact outside of their household 10 days prior to Jan. 4.

Schools originally could not restart in-person learning until Jan. 18.

Caine explained the reason for the date change. “So it’s a combination of being able to delve in deeper to our data and looking at it compared to the positivity rate in our school systems based on grades compared to our community spread that we feel pretty confident that we will be all right related to the Jan. 4 date.”

Parent Sheila Springfield said while it hasn’t been all bad, she still believes lessons are best taught face to face.

“There’s nothing like looking into a teacher’s eye and the teacher looking into the children’s eye and you know that in-person thing, you can’t replace that with virtual, you just can’t,” Springfield said.

Jessica Key made the decision early on to keep her daughter virtual through the semester, she said she believes being back in school is for the best but right now is too soon.

“Virtual learning, being on a computer all day certainly for the little ones, that’s not ideal so I understand the want to get the kids back in school full-time but at the same time, this virus is pretty dangerous,” said Key.

News 8 was waiting Thursday night to hear back from other districts’ plans for returning to in-person instruction.

Since the beginning of November, the number of COVID-19 cases per day in Marion County has tripled. Emergency room visits have doubled, and hospitalizations have gone from 20 per day to 33. Marion County’s current positivity rate is 14.6%.

Indiana Department of Health on Thursday reported the state’s positivity rate at 26.7%. Indiana has recorded 6,575 deaths. A total of 404,935 Hoosier have tested positive for the coronavirus.