With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the Joplin area showing no signs of slowing down, the new reentry guidelines Joplin R-8 administrators will recommend to the Board of Education tonight indicate it could be quite a while before the district returns to having Joplin High School classes completely on campus.
The reentry plan includes five criteria that must be met before returning to in-person classes:
-Daily positive cases remain below one percent of the total building population for 14 consecutive days
-City case rates, as reported by Joplin Health Department are in line with the "Yellow or Green" categories per CDC indicators and thresholds for risk of introduction and transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
-Substitute teaching fill rates are adequate to cover faculty COVID-related absences without doubling classrooms
-Local COVID-19 related hospital occupancy as reported by the city dashboard is below 40.
The number of cases at local hospitals is a major obstacle at the moment.
As of the posting on the city dashboard Monday, the number of COVID-19 patients at Mercy and Freeman hospitals is at 63, the highest recorded to date and far above the 40 recommended by the administrators with the capacity for the two hospitals combined estimated at 55 to 60.
The data submitted in board documentation shows JHS had 12 students with COVID-19 and 27 under quarantine Monday. The school's enrollment and staff as of August 30 was 2,030.
Area COVID-19 cases as of September 21 included in the board documentation show Jasper County with 185 cases, Newton County with 259 and the City of Joplin with 198.
The board approved the original reentry plan on a 4-3 vote July 30 with Board President Sharrock Dermott, Debbie Fort, Michael Joseph and Lori Musser voting for a split schedule, divided between in-person and virtual classes. Derek Gander, Brent Jordan and Jeff Koch voted against the plan.
The board agreed to revisit the plan at tonight's meeting.
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