SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Six Northeast Ohio counties--Cuyahoga, Mahoning, Portage, Richland, Stark and Summit--are currently under a Level 3 "red" alert as far as risk for COVID-19, indicating "very high exposure and spread."
The state of Ohio continues to see an uptick in cases, with another record set on Wednesday. Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that case numbers are putting "schools at stake," and that is proving to be true across Northeast Ohio.
Multiple Northeast Ohio schools have already been impacted by COVID-19 this month, including Mayfield High School, Willoughby-Eastlake, Bay Village, and Lake Catholic High School. Higher education has also been impacted, with Kent State University quarantining hundreds of students in recent weeks.
"I think our schools have done a very, very good job," DeWine said. "It's really incumbent upon us as citizens to be careful. I don't care how good the school is and the job that they do; if there is widespread virus in the community, there will be spread in that school."
Additionally, the Orange City School District decided not to focus solely on the color-coded guidance from the board of health, but it is hoping to make a transition to a hybrid model next week.
Wednesday night, the Shaker Heights School District Board called an Emergency meeting after indefinitely postponing its plans to welcome all students back to buildings next week.
“We are increasingly aware of the fact that this pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon," Shaker Heights Superintendent Dr. David Glasner said. "It is very likely we will remain at a Level 3 or potentially higher."
During the meeting, Glasner said he believes his schools are ready to welcome students back.
"We recognize that the pandemic is here to stay for a while, we recognize that the data is bad and may get worse overtime," he said. "Our students have been out of classroom now for almost exactly seven months; we are not meeting the needs of our students and we have a moral imperative and a responsibility to do so. That means we have to bring our students back on-site.
"The students who want to and need to we can meet their needs better on-site and we have set up health and safety protocols and structures."
According Shaker Heights' plan, families can still opt for online learning, but Glasner says 70% of families want on-site learning. He cites data showing schools are not the transmission point for COVID-19.
"We acknowledge that data in the state is trending upwards, but we also recognize that as a school district we need to make the decisions that reflect the data that are relevant to the school sector," he said. "I believe our schools are ready for a safe return."
The district is ready to welcome teachers, but not students, back into school buildings on Monday.