BREAKING: In-person return for Henrico elementary school students delayed until Jan. 25

Henrico elementary school students will have to wait a bit longer to return to school in person, the Henrico Citizen has learned.

Significant increases in most COVID-19 metrics in the county have prompted officials to delay for the second time – by two weeks, to Jan. 25 – the planned resumption of in-person learning for all elementary students whose families selected it. Teachers would be expected back in schools by Jan. 19 as part of the plan, which Superintendent Amy Cashwell discussed with elementary school principals Tuesday morning.

Both previous plans would have staggered the return, with students in grades K-2 coming back first, followed several days later by those in grades 3-5.

The delay comes in the wake of dramatically higher COVID case counts in Henrico and surrounding areas in recent weeks.

On Monday, Henrico County set its all-time record for highest average number of new daily COVID-19 cases (183) during the most recent seven days – a mark it then exceeded Tuesday (192).

As of Jan. 1, the county’s 7-day positivity percentage among PCR tests exceeded 14% for the first time since April 23. The rapid test positivity percentage as of the same date was 15.4% – more than double what it was just 11 days earlier.

The decision, Cashwell wrote in an email to school administrators Tuesday afternoon, came after consultation with the school system’s health committee Monday. The move does not impact middle school and high school students who opted to come back; they'll return Feb. 1 (sixth- and ninth-graders) and Feb. 4 (all others).

“The committee’s recommendation to move forward with implementation on a delayed timeline is responsive to its assessment of our ability to implement strong risk-mitigation and safety practices,” she wrote. “I concur with the committee’s recommendation and the representatives from the Virginia Department of Health who have expressed to me their confidence in the effectiveness of the risk-mitigation strategies that are currently in place in our schools. As always, an important element of our approach moving forward will be continued monitoring of health and safety conditions at each school and being responsive at the individual school level.”

A binding survey of all HCPS families several months ago showed that slightly more than one-third of students were planning to return in person when permitted to do so.

Two of the three “core metrics” established by the Virginia Department of Health to assist school systems as they decide when, or whether, to return students in person have multiplied since Nov. 16 – the last time Cashwell delayed a planned in-person return – and are firmly in the “highest risk” category:

• the number of cases per 100,000 in Henrico during the past 14 days is 686.1 – more than triple the 216.2 reported seven weeks ago;

• the percentage of positive PCR tests in Henrico during the past 14 days is 11% – more than double the 5% reported then.

The third core metric is a collection of five mitigation techniques that each school system must evaluate internally. HCPS officials have indicated on several occasions in the past few months that they are confident in their ability to meet those standards, which include proper social distancing; the use, and sufficient supply, of PPE; and proper cleaning and disinfecting measures.

The Henrico School Board voted 4-1 Oct. 22 to adopt a staggered in-person return for those families who selected it. K-2 students would have returned Nov. 7, those in grades 3-5 Dec. 7, sixth- and ninth-graders Feb. 1 and all other middle and high school students Feb. 4. Brookland District member Kristi Kinsella voted against the plan after unsuccessfully lobbying to delay all in-person learning until at least Jan. 11.

The health committee then briefed board members Nov. 12 and indicated that unless the two statistically based core metrics reached the “highest risk” or “higher risk” categories simultaneously, committee members would continue to support the planned timeline.

But just four days later, Cashwell made an abrupt shift after the committee’s meeting that day and announced the timeline would be delayed. One core metric that day was in the “highest risk” category and another in the “higher risk.”

Now both are solidly in the “higher risk” levels, and all three secondary indicators for Henrico also are in the highest or higher risk categories. (Those include the percentage of hospital beds in the region that are occupied; the percentage occupied by COVID patients; and the percentage change in new cases per 100,000 during the past seven days when compared with the previous seven days.)

But, Cashwell wrote in today's email to staff that she felt confident schools could reopen safely.

"[E]volving guidance from health experts plus our own experience and increased implementation of safety measures give us improved confidence that schools can be safe with the right risk-mitigation in place," she wrote. "From the start, we have maintained not only our commitment to serving our students, but to keeping an eye toward prioritizing the health and safety of our staff, students and community. Moving forward will be no different."

As part of their plan for a return to in-person learning, school system officials anticipated hiring a temporary classroom monitor and clinic attendant for each public school. The monitors would be available to fill in for teachers temporarily when they needed to leave the classroom briefly, while the clinic attendants would be tasked with helping to staff each school’s COVID room, where students in the building exhibiting symptoms of the virus could go while awaiting pick-up from a parent or guardian.

But as of Dec. 30, nearly 60 of those positions – 34 temporary classroom monitor spots and 25 clinic attendant spots – still were being advertised on the Henrico County jobs site.