Arizona schools mull in-person class with declines in COVID-19 cases

School districts planning return to school as counties meet coronavirus benchmarks

Many Arizona counties now meet state benchmarks that will allow the resumption of some form of in-person learning.

PHOENIX - Most counties in Arizona, including the state’s most populous one, were cleared on Sept. 3 to transition their schools to some form of in-person learning after recent coronavirus data showed improvements.

The state Department of Health Services announced that eight of Arizona’s 15 counties now meet the benchmarks required to do a hybrid of remote and in-person instruction if they choose to. They include Maricopa and Pima counties.

"One of the reasons for hybrid learnings is to give families that choice if they’re still not ready to send their kids back," said Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ.

Meanwhile, Greenlee and La Paz counties, which are more rural, got the green light to switch to full-time, in-person classes.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, however, urged caution as school districts consider whether to make the switch.

“As we saw at the end of spring and throughout the summer, COVID-19 can spread very quickly when we fail to adhere to essential mitigation strategies like wearing masks and practicing social distancing,” Hoffman said in a statement.

Under an executive order issued by Gov. Doug Ducey in June, there are three key criteria that counties need to fulfill for schools to offer hybrid instruction. A county must have a decline in new cases or a rate of less than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in a two-week period. In that same time frame, a county must also show a test positivity rate below 7% and hospital visits for COVID-19-like illness are below 10%.

Greenlee and La Paz counties demonstrated figures low enough to be categorized as having minimal community spread.

School districts differ in plans to return to in-person learning

Mesa Public Schools, the state’s largest school district in terms of student body, said on Sept. 3 that administrators now hoped to start hybrid learning beginning Sept. 14, but the district will make a final decision after seeing next week’s data.

With Chandler Unified School District, board members have decided to gradually phase in student's return to campus by grade level, and keeping a regular school schedule.

"We’re going to start off with K through second grade, and we’re going to add a week later, on September 21, grades three through six. We’re going to gradually build the campus back up," said Terry Locke with the Chandler Unified School District.

Junior and high school students at Chandler Unified School District, meanwhile, will return in mid-October. Since parents have a choice, school district officials say classrooms will likely not be full.

"Some classes are 14 to 16 currently, so we’ve had that natural reduction because many of our families are choosing the Chandler Online Academy, and those kids will continue until October 13, just a while longer," said Locke.

Parents demand that kids be allowed to return to class

Paradise Valley parents demand school district allow kids to return to class

The school district does not offer a hybrid model, like other school districts have done.

On the night of Sept. 3, dozens of parts in the Paradise Valley Unified School District gathered and demand the Governing Board allow their kids to be sent back to class.

"There’s no reason why these kids can’t be in school. Every other business is open, they’ve figured it out, with necessary precautions they can do it, and PV knows that as well," said Jenny O'Donnell.

"I got new teachers at my school, and I don’t want to do it on a computer. I want to do it in real life," said McKenzie O'Donnell.

PVUSD is not offering a hybrid model, meaning it's either all virtual or all on-campus when their benchmarks are met. The district opted to use its own guidelines.

"The metrics are unattainable," said Jenny O'Donnell.

Cases have been trending downward in Arizona

Arizona health officials on Thursday reported 1,091 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases with 65 additional deaths, increasing the state’s totals to 203,953 cases and 5,130 deaths.

It was the first time in three weeks that the Department of Health Services reported over 1,000 additional cases. The agency reported 1,351 on Aug. 13.

Arizona was a national hot spot in June and July, with cases and deaths trending downward since.

Seven-day rolling averages for daily new cases and daily deaths reported statewide continued to decrease through Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data analyzed by The Associated Press.

The rolling average of new cases went from 873 on Aug. 19 to 486 on Wednesday, while the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 41 to 28 during the same period.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report

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Symptoms for coronavirus COVID-19 include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. These, of course, are similar to the common cold and flu.

Expect a common cold to start out with a sore or scratchy throat, cough, runny and/or stuffy nose. Flu symptoms are more intense and usually come on suddenly, and can include a high fever.

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