Loveland schools to stay in blended model after Hamilton, Clermont enters “red”

Loveland High School from drone
Joe Wessels Loveland High School from the air. File photo by Joe Wessels. ©2019 Loveland Local News.

BY JOE WESSELS
Loveland Local News

LOVELAND, Ohio — No full return to school for Loveland City School District students next week after two counties see an increase in COVID-19 cases and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine moves both counties into “red” alert level.

Dr Amy Crouse superintendent headshot
Joe Wessels | Loveland Local News Dr. Amy Crouse is the superintendent of the Loveland City School District.

Superintendent Amy Crouse made the announcement via robocall to district parents around noon today. An unsigned email from the district was also sent to parents.

“In light of both Hamilton and Clermont Counties changing to a red level on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, Loveland City School District has decided to temporarily pause any changes and remain on the blended learning model for now for all students, to allow us additional time to evaluate,” the email said. “The time is not right to take a step toward bringing more students together…while we await more data.”

School district officials also said they would re-evaluate late next week whether pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students would continue in the blended, or partial in-person and at-home, model for the time being. On Thursday the state of Ohio releases new COVID-19 data, on which the school district intends to base their decision, the email said.

Remote learners who have been attending class via online video conference and participating through a combination of online learning applications and sending in completed “hard copy” work via email or uploading to a website will continue unimpeded, according to district officials.

The district reported its first COVID-19 case in a bus driver on September 14. In an email to district parents, the driver reported the positive test came over the September 12-13 weekend. Contact tracing was done and it was one student had come in close contact with the driver (6-feet or less for more than 15 minutes) and the student’s family was notified. Other student’s families on that driver’s route were also notified.

On September 19, school officials were notified a Loveland Middle School students had tested positive for the virus. The student had last attended school on September 15 but had not been in close contact with anyone and the district did not order any quartinining.

“As always, the safety of our students and staff is our number one priority,” the email said. “We appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times.”

Last Updated on October 15, 2020 by Joe Wessels

About Joe Wessels 77 Articles
Long-time and award-winning Cincinnati-area journalist, radio show host, podcast producer and photographer Joe Wessels is the founder and publisher (and kinda the do-everything guy) of Loveland Local News. Previously, Wessels was the Cincinnati City Hall and Hamilton County reporter for The Cincinnati Post and a weekly columnist for Cincinnati CityBeat where he regularly broke news. Wessels moved to Loveland in 2014 and quickly realized Loveland would be a great place to fulfill his dream of creating his own online news and information publication.