Tri-Cities middle and high schools should stay closed, top health official tells districts

Middle and high school students can’t safely return to classrooms under the current COVID-19 surge in the Tri-Cities area, says the Benton Franklin Health District’s health officer.

While Dr. Amy Person says returning students to school is a priority, she said it can’t happen without acknowledging the raging pandemic. She made the new recommendation in a letter Wednesday to the school districts.

“This is a fluid process as disease burden fluctuates and we watch who is getting the virus, where outbreaks are occurring, where and how schools are seeing success and the safety net schools can provide, especially for students with barriers to success at home,” she wrote.

Just a month ago, Dr. Person felt it was safe for students to return to classrooms as long as they followed proper precautions.

It’s still up to each school district to decide whether and how to reopen for in-person classes.

Kennewick has pushed back returning middle and high school students until Feb. 2. The board decided Wednesday night to stick with that until the case rates begin to drop.

The results of a safety audit of Kennewick’s middle and high schools showed they were prepared to bring students back when case rates drop.

Richland has yet to make a decision on the issue but is meeting next Tuesday.

Pasco is the only district to set a tentative date of Dec. 3 for the return of students. It’s uncertain whether that will change with the change in the recommendation. That board also meets next Tuesday.

Thousands of elementary school students are already attending classes partly in person throughout the Tri-Cities.

COVID infection rates

In the past month, the rate of new cases over a two-week period has gone from 182 per 100,000 to 508 per 100,000 averaged across the two counties.

The counties are seeing an average of 127 new cases a day, up from 41 daily, and about 9.5 percent of hospitalizations are due to COVID, up from 7 percent.

Compared to elementary school students, older children and teens are at a higher risk of catching the disease and passing to others, say health officials.

In addition, the number of cases in middle and high school students has been well ahead of younger students, Person said during Kennewick’s school meeting.

“When community disease activity was high, but plateauing or even incrementally increasing, additional mitigation measures could be put in place to offset those risks,” explained Dr. Person. “Unfortunately, when community disease activity is increasing exponentially, there is not sufficient capacity in the system to manage the additional mitigation measures necessary for bringing on thousands more students.”

While Person is recommending holding off on opening middle and high schools, she said it appears safe to continue to have elementary students in class.

While middle and high school students are at risk, Person said elementary students don’t appear to be passing the disease to each other inside classes.

In the past month since Kennewick students started returning to class, there has not been a reported case that was traced back to contact with someone inside a school.

“The benefit of schools for many students and families has not changed. The low risk of transmission in elementary schools and with small groups has not changed,” Dr. Person wrote.

Walla Walla

Also on Wednesday, Walla Walla school officials announced schools will remain closed for in-person learning through Dec. 18, which marks the beginning of its winter break.

Walla Walla County has had a 10-fold increase in COVID infections in the last month.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 6:06 PM.