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CALCUTTA -- Beaver Local has joined the growing list of school districts that are switching to all-remote learning when classes resume following Christmas break.
Superintendent Eric Lowe announced at Monday's school board meeting that all students will learn from home for the first two weeks of 2021 and return to the classroom on Jan. 19 in an attempt to buy more time against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Although the number of people testing positive for the first two weeks following Thanksgiving remained flat statewide, it increased by 21 percent locally, according to the Columbiana County Health Department.
Local public health officials are worried about a similar spike after families gather for Christmas and New Year's, and Lowe said having all students learning online from home for the first two weeks of the year will hopefully help slow any increase in the number of positive cases among students and staff when they do return to in-person classes.
"There are many districts already doing this," he said of the decision to go all-remote after Christmas, citing the East Liverpool, Lisbon, Leetonia, Crestview, Salem and Southern Local school districts, to name a few.
The school superintendents meet weekly with the county health department and will continue to do so over Christmas break, and Lowe said one of the things they discussed is how it could be worse than Thanksgiving because the duration of Christmas break will likely increase the instances of close and frequent contact with family and friends.
"One of the things discussed was looking at making the safest decision for the school community, and if we do a reset and come back we hopefully can sustain in-school learning," he said.
A total of 10 staff and 27 students have tested positive to date. "I think we have been managing pretty well," Lowe said.
Beaver Local's Christmas break begins today and runs through Jan. 3, but Lowe made the decision 10 days ago to have all students learn online from home on this Monday and Tuesday because doing this gives in-person students and staff a longer break at a time when the number of COVID-19 virus cases were increasing. A Dec. 16 snowstorm resulted in school being canceled last Thursday and Friday, tacking on two more days.
Like other districts, Beaver Local gave parents the option of sending their children back to school for in-person learning when the new school year began or continue to learn online from home, which everyone was forced to do for the last two and a half months of the 2019-20 school year. About 80 percent of Beaver Local parents chose to send their children back to school.
"I'm appreciative of the board support and all the hard work of our staff, students and families that we have been able to maintain in-person learning as long as we have," Lowe said.
tgiambroni@mojonews.com