Marion County middle school students can go back full time, but high schools have to wait

Arika Herron
Indianapolis Star

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Middle school students in Marion County can now go back to school in-person, full time for the first time since the novel coronavirus pandemic closed schools more than six months ago.

Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Health Department, issued a new public health order Friday that will allow students in kindergarten through eighth grade to return full time to in-person schooling. While the county has allowed elementary school students to return to classrooms full time since early August, middle and high school buildings have been held to only half-capacity.

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While two Marion County districts – Indianapolis Public Schools and Washington Township – are still operating fully remote until next month, the rest have returned to in-person instruction and most are using hybrid schedules for their middle and high schools. Students are divided into groups that rotate between receiving instruction in-person and virtually.

Caitlin Totten (left) and Bryna Totten do school work at home during the first day of school at Washington Township on July 30, 2020. The district started the year virtually.

Caine said Friday that transmission rates are low among middle school-age students, so they can start coming back full time. The decision to switch from a hybrid schedule to a full-time one will ultimately be up to individual school districts, though.

High school students will still have to wait for the opportunity to be back in school full time, as Caine released new guidelines for their return Friday. The county’s positivity rate will need to stay at or below 5% and the average number of new cases per day will need to sit at 35 or below for two weeks, she said.

Currently, the county’s positivity rate is 5% and its average number of new cases is 105, according to the latest data from the State Department of Health.

Caine said she thinks the county can reach the point where high school students can return to classrooms full time by Nov. 1.

Children and teenagers are making up a larger share of new COVID-19 cases than ever before in Marion County, accounting for nearly one-quarter of cases reported in September, but Caine said the vast majority of those are occurring in older children. About three-fourths of cases among Marion County residents 19 years old and younger are reported in 18- and 19-year-olds, she said.

It’s still unclear exactly how many cases are showing up in the county’s classrooms. While some districts have created their own dashboards to report positive cases among students and staff, others have not. A state dashboard detailing this information for schools statewide is expected to be made public next week.

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.