It's time for families of Hamilton County Schools students to decide again - this time for spring semester - whether to physically return to the classroom or attend school virtually.
Although there's still much to learn about how schools impact COVID-19 transmission, so far data indicates that the risk of in-person K-12 schooling may be lower than some parents and educators originally feared. Research is finding that, in general, reopening schools has not significantly changed the trajectory of the pandemic.
The vast majority of Hamilton County's COVID-19 cases in school-aged children are linked to extracurricular activities or off-campus gatherings - not in-person learning - according to officials.
"There have been a few cases that may stem from someone else at school. However, these situations are still very few. At this time, most cases we deal with are those that originated from an activity outside of the school day," district spokesperson Tim Hensley said by email.
However, the risk of more cases creeping into the classroom goes up in places with high prevalence of disease, especially for high school students, who appear to be more efficient transmitters of COVID-19 than small children.
More new cases were confirmed in both Hamilton County students and staff in October than any month since school re-started in August. As of Friday, there were 32 active cases among staff members and 54 active cases in students across 32 different schools. Another 933 students are quarantining for exposure to a positive case.
Dr. Allen Coffman, a pediatrician at Highland Pediatrics in Hixson, said families will need to consider their own needs and the needs of their children when weighing the pros and cons of learning virtually or in person.
For example, parents who are caretakers of their elder parents may not want to risk sending a high schooler who does well with virtual learning back to campus.
"Because that's adding a level of risk to your parents," he said, whereas an essential worker whose child is not thriving in an online environment may be willing to accept a higher level of risk.
Coffman, whose own children are in Hamilton County Schools, said the district has done "an extremely good job to this point" managing COVID-19, but that he's noticed "pandemic fatigue" taking hold in recent weeks.
"Everybody got really fired up when we went back to school. We wanted to have football and everybody took that very seriously, so we were super careful around here," he said. "Now, you're seeing that degrade and everybody's just getting tired of it parents are tired, kids are frustrated, the teachers are tired."
Other factors to consider are a child's age, social needs, living conditions and the school's track record so far.
What to know about choosing a learning option for spring semester in Hamilton County:
- Log-in to Parent Portal of Powerschool to select your child's preferred learning option or call the school for the school to make that selection. - The default option will once again be Learning Option 1: in-person. Parents must select either "in-person" or "HCS at Home." - Even if you are currently in HCS at Home, if you do not go to Parent Portal to re-enroll, then you will be put in "in-person." - The deadline to choose is Nov. 20. - Visit the Hamilton County Schools website for more information. Source: Hamilton County Department of Education
In general, it's more important for preschool and elementary kids, as well as students with learning challenges, to learn in person, Coffman said. Small children also transmit the disease less effectively than teenagers.
Families with larger homes may be able to quarantine and isolate infected students more easily than those who live together in close quarters.
And with the number of active cases and test positivity rate for the county nearly double what they were a month ago, the risk of catching COVID-19 at school is also higher, especially if more students decide to return to the classroom in the spring.
Of the nearly 45,000 students actively enrolled in Hamilton County's public schools, about 66% opted for in-person learning during the fall semester, according to data from the district.
"Keep in mind that we've shrunk class sizes, so that helps," Coffman said. "The other thing that's gonna play into this is that all these college kids are going to come home for Thanksgiving so we could have this high [active case] rate in the community as we go back to school - that's a different beast."
Coffman said it's time to double down on safety measures if the public wants to continue activities that are important to childhood development, such as sporting events.
For example, spectators should not be mingling before or after games, and kids should not get ready in the locker room together or carpool in groups.
"When you have a lot of people in a close environment who aren't taking basic precautions - like wearing a mask and social distancing, washing their hands - that's where COVID just really strikes," he said. "We need to be more aggressive right now with what sports teams are doing in close proximity."
Coffman recommends discussing learning options as a family every two weeks or so rather than stressing over it every day. Determine what's important to your family, how much risk you're willing to accept, and keep your options open while realizing that the risks increase as cases increase in the community, he said.
"And give yourself a lot of grace," Coffman said. "What we know about COVID changes, so being flexible and realizing that this is fluid is important."
Contact Elizabeth Fite at efite@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @ecfite.