Hybrid Classes Threatened By Coronavirus Surge, Officials Worry

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — County Executive Steuart Pittman recently supported optional hybrid schooling. Now, Pittman isn't so sure that the county is ready.

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved the proposal last week. Families can now choose to send their elementary students back to school for hybrid classes. Virtual learning remains available for parents who would rather their children stay home.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health initially gave the proposition its stamp of approval. A spike in coronavirus cases threatens the plan, however.

"I take some of the blame for this because during the pandemic, we’ve had to make decisions quickly," Pittman said Wednesday during a virtual town hall. "I was 100 percent on board."

Pittman and Board of Education members then got an onslaught of emails from concerned parents and teachers. The opposition claims that reopening schools is still too risky. Pittman now wonders whether the county should wait until at least January to pursue a hybrid model.

Health Officials Wave Red Flag

Anne Arundel County health officials warn that the current coronavirus outlook does not bode well for reopening schools next month. County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman bases his recommendations off Anne Arundel's case rate.

This statistic is the number of new coronavirus infections that the county averages per 100,000 residents per day over a rolling week. He says the Board of Education should only consider reopening elementary schools when the county has a case rate between 5 and 10.

Anne Arundel County met that requirement when the school board voted for the hybrid plan. The case rate has since climbed upward, and it is currently approaching 11.

Kalyanaraman's plan mirrors the cues a traffic signal. When the county has the green light, it is clear to proceed with hybrid instruction.

He encourages delaying further reopenings when Anne Arundel County is in the yellow range. If a school is already open when the county hits the yellow marker, it may stay open, but it must proceed with caution. Should the county land in the red zone, he suggests moving classes online as soon as possible.

Kalyanaraman considered the county's case rate and students' ages when formulating this advice. The zones and corresponding recommendations are broken down in the chart below.

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Younger students are able to return to school during more adverse conditions because their bodies react differently to coronavirus. Though they can still contract the disease, they are less likely to transmit it, Kalyanaraman explains.

He also says the school setup for younger students is more conducive to social distancing. Elementary schoolers spend most of their day in one classroom. They also have fewer students per class. That means their cohort, or close circle, is relatively contained.

Middle schoolers, on the other hand, switch classrooms and intermix among the entire grade. The bubble is even larger for high schoolers, whose classes can have students from many grades. These complications make it more challenging to safely send older students back to the classroom.

The Department of Health reminds families that their recommendations constantly evolve based on the most recent data. Health officials say their suggestions may change, but only because they continue to learn more about the virus and its presence in the community.

Kalyanaraman previously okayed the hybrid system because the county's metrics supported his decision in the moment, he claims. The landscape has since changed, he notes, forcing him to adapt his recommendations.

This advice could change again by the November reopening, Kalyanaraman warns. That's just because the county's case rate keeps fluctuating, and his appraisals are real-time.

"We are nine, 10 months into a pandemic, and we are learning more each day," Kalyanaraman said, noting that his input is guidance, not policy. "As we learn more, that may affect our thinking. We will certainly update that. There are areas of uncertainty, and we factor that into our thinking."

School Officials Remain Determined

Board of Education Members Melissa Ellis (County Council District 4) and Julie Hummer (At Large) say the school system is sticking with its current hybrid plan until further notice. The school board will monitor the health situation as the November restart nears.

"It can’t be fear that is keeping our students out of the classroom," Ellis said. "It needs to be the metrics and the health and safety of our students."

Despite the reassurance, some parents worry they'll regret choosing the hybrid model. Others question who their teachers will be come November.

Educators, like families, have the choice of whether to teach in the classroom, request for special permission to work from home, take a leave of absence or resign. This uncertainty means that students might not have the same teachers when schools reopen, Hummer cautions.

"In this year of COVID education, everything we have ever done is been thrown for a loop," Hummer said. "We’re building the plane as we’re flying it."

This uncertainty haunts educators. The Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County has frequently questioned the viability of hybrid classes.

"They are upcrying because of the thought of them losing some of their students," union President Russell Leone said during the meeting. "As teachers, as educators, we need the answers."

Leone has accused schools of having improper desk spacing, poor ventilation and unclear safety policies. These concerns are part of his continued allegation that teachers were excluded from reopening discussions. The school board, however, says it has kept educators in the loop from the beginning.

"It’s messy," Pittman said. "That’s the case in every county and every jurisdiction in the world right now."

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The Current Plan

On Oct. 7, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education adopted a staggered hybrid plan that will send some students back to school in November. The track is optional, so students can continue distance learning if they prefer.

Students in pre-K through second grade can start hybrid classes on Nov. 16. Early Childhood Intervention, a youth special education program, also moves into a hybrid model the same day.

The remaining elementary schoolers can begin hybrid learning on Nov. 30. Teachers will return to the classroom on Nov. 2 to start streaming lessons.

Students taking hybrid classes will be split into two groups. One group will attend in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. The other will head to school on Thursdays and Fridays.

These students will learn remotely on the remaining three days. Teachers and students must work from home on Wednesdays while schools undergo a deep clean.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools will reach out to families on Oct. 9, explaining how to indicate whether their child will start hybrid classes. Families can choose from:

• A hybrid model
• A year-long distance learning plan
• A half-year virtual instruction track with the option to adopt the hybrid route in February of 2021

More information about each option is available at this webpage. Families must submit their choice by Oct. 15.

For the time being, classes will remain online for middle and high schoolers. School officials said they hope to return these older students to the classroom by mid-December.

AACPS's developmental and specialty centers opened at limited capacities to start the school year. Wednesday's move allows these sites to gradually welcome more students back to the classroom.

Some students in the English as a Second Language program have been in school for a month. These students will continue to return in waves, according to the board's plan.

Kalyanaraman reviewed the proposal and offered strict coronavirus guidelines. The Anne Arundel County Department of Health approved the phased reopening, AACPS said in press release.

The board says more information will be available on its website

Coronavirus Statistics Update

The most recent data clock Anne Arundel County's positivity rate at 3.47 percent, which is 0.38 percent higher than the statewide clip. The county's positivity rate hit its pandemic low of 2.29 percent on Aug. 16. After jumping to a recent high of 4.45 percent on Sept. 7, the rate started to plateau.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says municipalities should aim to keep their positivity rate below 5 percent. When counties hit this mark, Maryland health leaders say it is likely safe to return to schools for hybrid instruction.

Though Anne Arundel met the positivity rate recommendation, school officials still started the fall semester with online classes for most students. AACPS previously committed to distance learning for the first two marking periods.

The state challenged AACPS's initial decision to remain online. Hogan recently urged schools to start considering a hybrid model. AACPS responded by reaffirming its immediate commitment to remote learning while also speeding up its plans for eventual hybrid classes.

Some students, like those in special education and English language programs, started their year under the hybrid model. Seeing their success, Pittman teased a universal hybrid strategy.

"My goal first and foremost in all of this is to save lives," Pittman said at his town hall on Sept. 15. "We’re still at-risk and we still have people that are likely to die from this. We want to save as many lives as we can."

Anne Arundel County has been under the 5 percent benchmark since June 22. The local positivity rate topped out at 28.24 percent on April 16.

"My goal first and foremost in all of this is to save lives," Pittman said at a virtual town hall on Sept. 15. "We’re still at-risk and we still have people that are likely to die from this. We want to save as many lives as we can."

While the jurisdiction meets the percent positive guideline, it does not meet the state's infections-per-capita marker. State health officials say municipalities should aim for a case rate of less than five new coronavirus cases-per-day per 100,000 people.

Anne Arundel County's case rate has aligned with Maryland's trends. It hit an initial peak of 13.84 on June 3 before receding to its minimum of 3.53 by June 26.

A second surge spiked Anne Arundel's case rate to its overall peak of 14.26 on Aug. 2. Infections quelled by Aug. 20, dropping the case rate to 6.93.

After a brief downturn, another wave accelerated the county's infections. The case rate hiked to 12.78 on Sept. 18. Nine days later, the case rate fell to 8.56, but it has already returned to 10.9. That's double the state's goal.

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The county must average less than 28.96 new coronavirus infections-per-day over a rolling week to meet the state's per-capita suggestion. Anne Arundel County has averaged 65.57 new cases-per-day during the last seven days.

Anne Arundel has the fifth most coronavirus infections in the state, with 10,986. The virus has killed 248 county residents.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have seen an upswing recently. The virus had 21 Anne Arundel County residents in the hospital on Sept. 27. That was the fewest since April 3 when 21 locals were hospitalized.

Saturday saw 45 hospitalizations. That was the most since Aug. 5. Hospitalizations fell to 39, as of the most recent report.

Fewer than 50 coronavirus patients have been in the hospital at a time since June 14. The county's recent high of 49 hospitalizations came on July 24. More than 170 people were hospitalized in Anne Arundel County on the pandemic's April 21 peak.

"We’re all a little bit wary of this pandemic," Pittman said at the September town hall. "We all just wish it would go away."

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• Schools, Jobs: How Staying In Stage 2 Affects Anne Arundel County
• Movie Theaters, Concert Venues Can Reopen: Hogan's Plan Explained

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