Dear BCSC Families,

Last month, seventeen school days into the 2020-2021 school year, I provided you with an update on our COVID cases and how it was impacting students and staff. This letter continues the important process of sharing the most current information. At the conclusion of this letter, you are asked to make a decision regarding making a change to the future educational placement—the traditional school experience or At Home Learning (AHL) for the entire second quarter.

This is what we have learned since the start of school broken down in two reporting periods—the first 17 school days, when I last communicated with you, and the 19 school days since that communication. This will allow you to make your own conclusions based on the limited trend information. Please note this is not a political statement, nor is it a medical opinion, just observations at this point in the school year.

Parent Choice:

• On the first day of school, 8,238 (88%) students returned in person while 1,143 (12%) students started school online. The current online numbers are 1,163 (12.3%). The highest number of AHL was on August 21 when 1,277 were enrolled in that option.
• Over the past four weeks since my last communication, the number of students taking advantage of the At Home Learning option decreased to the current 1,163. This does not mean that only students are coming back to school, but there has been a net decrease in the number of students participating in AHL. (For example, this past week 36 students returned to school and 8 students elected AHL.)
• With seven weeks of school complete, most parents have the information they need to make more permanent placement decision, at least for the entire second 9-week grading period.

Positive Cases and Quarantining:

• In the first 17 school days, we had 11 positive student cases (Elementary 0 cases; Middle School 0 cases; High School 11 cases). In the last 19 school days, we’ve had 13 students who have tested positive for COVID or been clinically diagnosed with COVID by a doctor (Elementary 2 cases; Middle School 5 cases; High School 6 cases).
• In our first report, we had one case where two ALPHA staff members tested positive for COVID and five BCSC students had to be quarantined. Since then, a member of the transportation department tested positive, resulting in four students being quarantined. To date, we’ve had a total of 11 staff members test positive for COVID, but due to social distancing, absence from work or yet reporting to work only the students noted above had to be quarantined.
• In the first 17 school days 174 students were quarantined since they were within 6 feet of someone who was COVID positive for more than 15 minutes, as directed by the Hendricks County Health Department. In the last 19 days, 203 students have been quarantined.
• All of the quarantined students (377 total students) who were eligible to return to school have returned to school on time (321 have already returned—the remainder are currently serving their quarantine). Of the quarantined students who have already returned to school, none have displayed or reported developing any symptoms of COVID.
• The COVID positive students have returned to school on schedule, with none being hospitalized.
• A quarantined student misses an average of 6.5 days of school.
• Through our contract tracing, there is no evidence to indicate any of these students caught COVID through contact at school.

Communication and Next Steps:

• We will continue to personally notify families that are impacted by a positive case and required to quarantine. All families at the school will be notified of the positive case when students are impacted.
• We continue to re-examine our classroom layouts to create more social distance, dramatically reducing the number of students quarantined when there is another positive COVID case.

It is evident that we will continue to see some cases of COVID in our schools. Our limited data also begins to show a clearer picture of the impact on our students, allowing us to focus more attention on the instructional programming for all our students.

Families have been provided with great flexibility in choosing the best educational option for them. We are moving to a point where a more permanent decision must be made for the remainder of the second quarter and then the rest of the school year when the first semester ends.

If you are content with your current selection—in person instruction or At Home Learning, you need to do nothing. If, after reviewing the most current information, you have decided a change of placement is best for your child(ren), please complete the survey at this link to change your placement (complete a separate survey for each student for which you wish to make a change).  https://www.brownsburg.k12.in.us/2020-Q2-change Decisions for placement for the second 9-weeks, must be made no later than September 25 and are permanent until the end of the first semester on December 18.

Later this semester, I will provide you with an update and another opportunity to adjust your current placement for the entire second semester. We expect those final decisions for the second semester to be due no later than December 4 to allow time for staff and student schedules to be adjusted.

I hope this provides a more complete picture of our priorities and the thought process that goes into this important decision-making process. Should you have any questions, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Jim Snapp

Press Release Brownsburg Community Schools