'Cocktails or schools': Chesterfield School Board says high COVID community transmission led to systemwide closure

The monthslong debate on whether to send students back into Chesterfield County Public Schools’ buildings started a new chapter this week, with empty classrooms and students back home, participating in virtual learning.

Chesterfield students, besides select K-12 special education pupils, will not be allowed back into their respective classrooms until at least Jan. 29, the end of the first semester of 2021. The school system reversed course on its reopening plan Wednesday as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the county.

After welcoming back nearly 34,000 students in sixth through 12th grades on Nov. 9 — a controversial decision made by the school system’s health committee — the district recorded 89 new COVID-19 cases among staff and students, said Nick Oyler, coordinator of student health services, during Monday’s specially scheduled School Board work session.

“We average 10 to 11 reported cases per day, with each leading to multiple individuals remaining home for 10 to 14 days,” Oyler said. “These numbers don’t even begin to include the number of students and staff that must remain at home due to family or community exposure.”

Even though school cases have increased, Oyler said there is no substantial evidence of school-related coronavirus transmission.

“Despite opinions on health risks to staff or students, at some point the amount of community exposure, isolation and quarantine becomes unsustainable for a school division. We are now at that point,” Oyler said.

Last week’s decision to pull students out of school came as the county’s seven-day average of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people reached 26.5. Earlier in November, school officials had announced that once the seven-day average hit a threshold of 25, the division would return to full-time virtual learning.

On Monday, the county’s seven-day average per 100,000 people was 25.6. The average reached 28 on Thanksgiving. As of Monday, Chesterfield had recorded 9,323 coronavirus cases, 496 hospitalizations and 131 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

“The community needs to pick cocktails or schools. I mean because literally the community transmission rate is so high and that’s why we had to shut down our schools, not because our mitigation strategies were not successful,” School Board Chairwoman Debbie Bailey said.

When deciding to send back middle and high schoolers, the health committee went against its own metrics on keeping students and educators safe. Using three coronavirus metrics — the seven-day average of cases, case positivity rate and school readiness — the school system was in the moderate risk category when the district’s oldest students were given the all-clear to head back to school.

“We did not want to make a decision based on a crystal ball. Our data says come back, we’re going back and we stuck with our metrics and we came back,” Bailey said. “However, now lessons [have been] learned.”

Bailey said that while the school system does not want to be 100% virtual — rather 100% in-person — this is the right decision at this time.

Henrico County Public Schools recently reversed its course on expanding in-person learning, delaying the Nov. 30 rollout to January. Hanover County brought students back full time Sept. 8, while Richmond Public Schools will remain virtual at least through the beginning of 2021.

The next Chesterfield School Board meeting is scheduled for Dec. 8.