By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — Crestwood Schools made the decision to move to live virtual instruction Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, due to the COVID-19 positivity rates within the district.
Students and staff had the Thanksgiving break off followed by virtual learning with a return to in-person instruction Dec. 6.
Supt. Youssef Mosallam made the recommendation which was discussed for an hour at a Nov. 22 study session held prior to the board’s regular meeting.
A letter to the community said the change was based on the surge of COVID-19 cases and the number of students and staff who are in quarantine. All of the staff will continue to teach from their classrooms and instruction will be live, following their regular schedule.
“We know that this is not ideal, but we must identify short-term delays for long-term results,” Mosallam said in the letter. “One day COVID-19 will be behind us and we will celebrate as one community.
“I also want to extend my sincere appreciation to our community for their continued support and for our staff who go above and beyond. We are truly working to make the Crestwood Schools a district that people want to be a part of, as staff and families. We are not perfect, but that does not stop us from being phenomenal.”
A vaccine clinic will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the auditorium of Riverside Middle School, 25900 W. Warren, for students ages 5 to 12 years old. The followup clinic for the second dose will be held Jan. 6 at the same time and location.
Riverside was one of the schools that had previously gone virtual a few weeks back because the numbers started to rise. Mosallam said most of the cases are coming from outside the school into schools.
At the time of the meeting there were multiple hot spots and breakouts, which is three or more positive cases within a specific group within 14 days.
“Looking at these numbers and they’re steadily increasing — we’re seeing a trend, and my concern as a superintendent of schools is that this trend is going to be exponentially larger when we come back from Thanksgiving holiday,” he said.
Mosallam has been receiving updates from the school nurse regularly and an uptrend is occurring, he said.
“We’re starting to notice more positive rates and quarantine in elementary then were a month ago,” he said. “In addition we’re seeing a steady trend. Also, we’re starting to see quarantining and positivity rates, as well as close contact concerns with staff.”
The district is asking the community with help to stop the spread of COVID-19 with the one week virtual instruction as an opportunity to do so.
“Any decision I make for our students will have a possibly short-term delay but for a long term success, and my concern is if we aren’t proactive after Thanksgiving that these numbers could spike,” Mosallam said at the study session. “I could be 100 percent wrong or, God forbid, I could be right and there could be more community spread during the holiday break, and next thing I know we’re going to have to look at going virtual before the winter break.”
To watch the district’s meetings go to the Crestwood School District YouTube page.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)