HILLIARD, Ohio — Students have been dealing with the effects of the pandemic for months now. It affected where school was taught at the end of last school year and is having a profound effect on the upcoming school year, too.
The Hilliard City School board voted Monday night to start the school year on a "hybrid" model of in-person and online learning, as long as Franklin County is in the "orange" or level 2 threat level on the first day of school.
"Since mid-March, our kids are hurting," said Dr. John Marschhausen, superintendent of Hilliard City Schools. We have students who have very much struggled with the isolation that has been created with this virus, and I think that, as school leaders, we need to do everything we can to safely get our kids back to school."
Dr. Marschhausen said it's all about finding the right balance. "There's such a balance right now, between listening to our health department and the respect we all have for a virus that has turned all of our lives upside-down, and our knowledge that our kids need us," he said. "Schools are an essential service."
He added that administrators and school staff are doing everything they can to keep kids safe when they do go back to school. "We're working with our health officials," he explains, "to maintain those six feet social distance, we just passed a mask policy in Hilliard City Schools, we have ordered dividers for every desk, which puts a physical barrier that students can see through at their desks when they're sitting at their desks."
Of course, rising or declining cases of COVID-19 will be a big factor in determining when kids will go back to class. "Both Franklin County Public Health and Dr. Roberts with Columbus Public Health have recently talked about a desire to see a consistent decline in the case numbers here in Franklin County," said Dr. Marschhausen, "and we will, of course, abide by their recommendations, but we are planning for both remote and hybrid. And as soon as we get the OK to bring kids in face-to-face, introduce numbers, that's what we're going to push for in Hilliard."
Dr. Marschhausen said that communication between school administrators and health officials, and sharing data is key. "We have a weekly meeting with our health commissioners now," he explains, "at the county level, with superintendents, and so, once a week, we'll have that touchpoint, so we'll be able to share trend data, we'll be able to share the direction we think we're moving."
When it comes to potential outbreaks once the school year gets underway, Dr. Marschhausen said Hilliard City Schools is partnering with Ohio State to track them. "Hilliard is also working with Ohio State University's Department of Public Health to do some tracking at the building level," he says, "so that we can determine, once our students get in our classrooms, are there triggers that should raise flags for us that we may have an outbreak. We don't want to wait until it's too late."
When it's all said and done, Dr. Marschhausen said all educators have the same goal: "We're doing everything we can to create the safest environment we can," he says, "and take every step to return our students to the classrooms."