Newport Heads Back To School: By The Numbers

NEWPORT, RI — Beck to school season has arrived in Newport, and just a few weeks into the new year, things are looking good in schools.

Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermaine said it's "great to hear the buzz" of students in full classrooms.

"Overall, it's going well," Jermaine told Patch. "We're back, ready to learn."

Although masks have caused some issues with communication, students are excited to be back, Jermaine said, especially when it comes to sports.

So far this year, coronavirus case number have remained low. Based on the latest guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Education, however, schools are sending home more students showing a potential COVID-19 symptom, Jermaine said.

Because the delta variant spreads faster than previous strains of COVID-19, the department now requires that schools send home students with one potential symptom. Last year, the standard was two.

So far this year, 220 students have been sent home for potentially showing COVID-19 symptoms, Jermaine said. Of these, 12 were confirmed positive. Here's how the breaks down, by school:

• Pell Elementary School: Four students tested positive out of 95, representing 4 percent of students sent home, or less than one percent of the total student population.
• Thomson Middle School: Six students out of 71 sent home tested positive, representing 8 percent of those who were sent home or 1 percent of the total student body.
• Rogers High School: Of the 54 students sent home with at least one symptom, two tested positive. This represents 4 percent of those sent home, or less than 1 percent of the high school student body.

Jermaine said she shared these numbers with the department, and is concerned the current guidelines may be more disruptive to the learning environment than the current situation requires.

"I'm not a policymaker, I only share the information [with state leaders,]" Jermaine said. "If we're trying to keep kids in school, ... what we have now is more disruptive than it was last year."

Like so many other districts in Rhode Island and around the country, Newport is contending with transportation shortages in the new school year.

The district started the year short five drivers, Jermaine said, but is working closely with bus provider Ocean State Transit to fill the vacancies. Several new drivers are in training, she said, and are expected to be ready within the coming weeks.

In addition, the district shifted bus schedules slightly, arriving at Rogers High School about 10 minutes earlier than usual. This creates a cascading effect on the morning bur route schedule, allowing more time for later pickups.

"Busing is improving with every day," Jermaine said. "Slowly but surely, we're chipping away."

Overall, Jermaine said she is looking forward to a healthy, happy school year.

"We're in this together," she said. "We're a community, we're one Newport."