Nearly a month into in-person classes, Brown County Schools recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19.
On Aug. 31, the Brown County High School boys soccer team was directed to quarantine after a person involved with the soccer program reported testing positive for the coronavirus.
Players were scheduled to be cleared to return to school after Sept. 9 as long as they didn’t develop any symptoms, as their last contact with this person was Aug. 26.
Despite this incident, Superintendent Laura Hammack said last week that the number of students in each of the six BCS school buildings who are reporting symptoms of COVID-19 remains well below the 11-percent threshold that would move schools to Plan B of the return-to-school plan.
When there is low to no spread of symptoms in a school building, school is operating on a regular schedule in person — with some changes to “normal,” like masks for all children on buses, in school buildings for ages 8 and up, and social distancing when possible. This is Plan A, or the green plan.
When there is minimal or moderate spread, Plan B, or the yellow plan, goes into effect, which is a hybrid of online and in-person school. Fifty percent of students would attend traditional school every other day, with remote learning happening on days they are not in buildings. Families would have the same schedule assignments.
Schools are “cohorting” students, keeping them with the same small group as much as they can so that their close contacts can be identified.
When 16 percent or more of students are reporting symptoms, then the substantial spread plan, Plan C, or the red plan, is put into place. Remote learning would occur for all students until the community spread decreases.
Then, it would switch to Plan B, then back to Plan A when the case number thresholds were met.
Hammack said the district runs a daily symptom tracking sheet to monitor the percentage of students with symptoms of COVID-19.
At the end of the school day on Sept. 1, all buildings had less than 5 percent of students reporting symptoms. Van Buren Elementary School had the highest level, with 4.7 percent of students presenting with symptoms; the lowest was Sprunica Elementary School with 2.2 percent of students showing symptoms.
The percentages are for students with symptoms, not necessarily positive COVID-19 results. Symptoms of COVID-19 can also mimic symptoms of other conditions. The ones that can cause students to be excluded from school include a temperature of at least 100.4; sore throat; new, uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing; diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain; new onset of severe headache, especially with fever; and loss of taste or smell.
The Indiana State Department of Health recently updated its color-coded county positivity map to evaluate each county based on three benchmarks: the number of new cases in the past week per 100,000 residents; positivity rate; and the change in the positivity rate from the previous week.
The map is posted at coronavirus.in.gov; click on “county metrics.”
Counties will be scored each week as blue, yellow, orange or red, which will local officials to easily “determine the best course of action,” the governor’s office explained in a press release.
The levels don’t require any leaders to take action; the system is “designed to help local and school officials understand and respond to the level of community spread in their county,” the release said.
As of Sept. 2, Brown County was scored as yellow. There had been 90 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Brown County since March; two of those people have died.
Hammack said the new map will be one data point to assist the district when deciding the status of the schools.
“At this point, we believe it aligns fairly well with our green/yellow/red plans. We don’t expect to make any changes to our plans now; however, we monitor the situation daily to ensure we are making the best decisions for tomorrow,” she said.
A new COVID-19 testing site opened at the Brown County Music Center on Sept. 2 and will be testing children and adults at no charge until at least the end of the year. Appointments can be made at scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov.
If a Brown County Schools student or employee tests positive or is diagnosed with COVID-19 by a doctor, they are asked to call the COVID-19 positive test hotline immediately at 812-988-3477.
