Covid Means 1,000 Wichita School Staff Out; Record Student Cases In Texas
The Wichita situation is thanks to a mix of actual covid illness or exposure, and affects nearly 14% of the state's largest school district staff. In Texas, a surge is affecting schoolkids, but the governor's rule bans mask mandates — so some students are reportedly turning to walkouts over limited covid rules.
AP:
Over 1,000 Wichita School Workers Out Because Of COVID-19
More than 1,000 staff members in the state’s largest school district are in quarantine because of COVID-19, but currently all Wichita schools are open. The Wichita Eagle reports that district records show that nearly 14% of the school district’s staff — some 1,033 people — were off because of COVID-19 illnesses or exposure as of Friday. That is up from 912 and 646 in the previous two weeks. (1/30)
The Texas Tribune:
Omicron Leads To Record-High COVID-19 Cases In Texas Schools
Students in Texas public schools are experiencing another year upturned by COVID-19 as the delta and omicron variants spread. Most schools are resuming in-person classes after winter break with a greater emphasis on testing, vaccinations and masking even as the highly contagious omicron variant surges. For now, schools are prohibited from requiring masks, though some continue to ignore the governor’s order banning mask mandates. Children ages 5-11 are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Several districts have temporarily closed or altered operations to compensate for staff shortages due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases. (Huang, Cai and Lopez, 1/30)
The Texas Tribune:
Texas Students Turn To Petitions, Walkouts Over Limited COVID-19 Rules
For Texas high school students, keeping up with class work was hard enough before the pandemic. But then the pandemic hit, and with it came debates over everything having to do with Texas schools. Masks or no masks? Will online classes be available? Schools reopened last fall but are struggling to remain open in the midst of a coronavirus surge caused by the omicron variant. The semester has barely started, and so far, there have been 192,145 student COVID-19 cases and 61,142 staff cases, according to the Texas Education Agency. That appears to be the highest case level since the pandemic began in 2020, although the data collected by the state is often incomplete. (Park, 1/31)
The Mercury News:
COVID: West Contra Costa Unified Avoids Teacher Strike
West Contra Costa Unified School District’s teachers union has agreed not to go on strike after the district promised new COVID-19 safety measures to drive down a large number of absences that have upended the district’s schools over the past month. United Teachers of Richmond, the faculty union, announced the tentative agreement in an email Saturday. The deal followed intensive negotiations that lasted until 3 a.m., past the Friday afternoon deadline that the union had set earlier in an ultimatum to the district. (Mukherjee, 1/29)
Politico:
Omicron Has States Rethinking 'Broken' School Covid Testing
State leaders and health experts are weighing a counterintuitive school Covid strategy: Less testing and contact tracing. Utah’s legislature suspended school testing requirements this month after high Covid rates strained the state’s system. Omicron’s quick spread left Vermont officials abandoning their onetime school test-and-trace program, while Massachusetts officials strongly encouraged schools to give up a diagnostics program endorsed by federal officials. (Perez Jr., 1/30)
On mental health —
The Boston Globe:
Mental Health A Top Concern For Colleges As Students Return For Spring Semester
As the spring semester gets underway on campuses across the region, college mental health staff say they’re inundated with students seeking care — a sign that, though classes remain largely in person, the stressors caused by the pandemic over the past two years are far from gone. In recent months, many institutions have redoubled their efforts to meet the increased needs of students even as they’ve begun to shift their strategy away from a singular focus on therapy and toward an effort to help students form friendships and to foster a warmer, closer-knit, and more supportive campus culture. “We know we can’t counsel or therapy our way out,” said Barbara McCall, executive director of Middlebury College’s Center for Health and Wellness. (Krantz, 1/30)
