CINCINNATI — Several Cincinnati Public Schools are temporarily switching to a remote learning format due to extreme staffing shortages attributed to the rapid community spread of COVID-19.
CPS officials announced Thursday that decisions regarding school operations will be made on a case-by-case basis according to need. The notice from the school district indicated that individual schools experiencing staffing shortages will shift to remote learning for at least five consecutive days.
As of Friday morning, eight Cincinnati schools are affected. They include a combination of elementary schools and high schools.
Two schools — The Academy of World Languages (AWL) and LEAP Academy — went remote Thursday and will stay that way until at least Tuesday, Jan. 11.
CPS leadership determined that six other schools would go remote starting Friday. They’ll remain remote until at least Wednesday, Jan. 12. Those schools are Carson School, Gilbert A. Dater High School, Hays-Porter School, Rees E. Price Academy, Rothenberg Academy and Walnut Hills High School.
All Cincinnati Public Schools are closed Friday due to sub-freezing wind chill temperatures, reaching as low as -5 degrees. That includes the schools that are currently remote.
Based on the situation, CPS left open the possibility that timeline could be extended to meet a specific school’s immediate needs.
Remote learning is something families with children have experienced at various times over the past two years due to the pandemic. Like other districts across the country, Cincinnati Public Schools began that school year in-person. However a recent surge in cases this winter has again led to conversations about going remote.
As of Wednesday, the number of active cases in the county has nearly doubled over the past week, growing from 11,700 to 20,141.
The county also saw a jump in daily cases from an average of 678 cases per day to 1,472 this week. By comparison, the previous peak in December 2020 was 716 per day.
Earlier this week, well more than 300 CPS employees – that includes teachers and other operations staff, such as administration and medical staff – were out sick Monday. That includes 23 nurses, according to Julie Sellers, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers.
Sixty staff members from the CPS’ central offices were dispatched to school buildings across the district to keep those schools open Monday. Interim Superintendent Tianay Amat said that the situation is not sustainable.
On Monday, Cincinnati Public Schools recommended that all its schools go remote for a period of time in order to offset a rapid rise in local COVID-19 cases that has decimated staffing levels.
The proposal, which has not yet been voted on, occurred during a regular scheduled meeting of the Cincinnati Board of Education.
Amat emphasized that to CPS, the situation is a staffing issue, not a safety situation.
CPS plans to discuss the possibility of going remote district-wide versus on a school-by-school basis during its next meeting on Monday.
For the time being, students at schools that go remote will receive their instruction via Google Meet sessions with their teachers. Materials will be uploaded to a program called Schoology. Attendance is expected and will be taken, CPS said.
There will be no after-school activities for these schools during this time.
During remote learning, students and staff are advised to continue monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, coughing, loss of taste and smell. Anyone experiencing symptoms should get tested.
Staff should continue to report positive cases to the COVID-19 Hotline at (513) 363-0527. Positive student cases should be submitted to the nurse's office at their school.
The running list of schools is on the Cincinnati Public Schools website.