In August, 2020, Northeast Ohio school districts announced their preparations for the start of the new school year in September amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the general consensus was, school districts in counties with a yellow or orange code, which indicates zero to low rates of infection, may adopt in-person learning or a hybrid approach where there’s a mix of in-person and virtual education.
School districts in counties that have been coded red (for high risk of infection) or purple (for severe exposure) mostly adopted virtual learning, at least for the first quarter of the school year.
However, beginning the last few weeks of October, the number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio, including the Northeast region, has been rising considerably. The total number of cases in the state as of November 30 was 421,063, with a rolling 21-day average of 7,909 daily cases.
As may be seen from this interactive map, nearly all counties in Ohio are coded red, indicating Level 3 alert, or very high exposure and threat. In Northeast Ohio, only Harrison County had a lower threat level as of November 25.
As a result, many school districts in the region and the rest of the state have rolled back plans for in-person learning and have gone back to remote learning mode.
Updates on Northeast Ohio school districts
Here are updates on the learning approaches adopted by some school districts in Northeast Ohio:
- Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools
For the school year 2020-2021, the school district has adopted two learning models — hybrid learning and fully remote learning. Originally, the school district had planned to transition from the hybrid model to an all-in learning model in mid-November, but with recent cases rising in Cuyahoga County, the plan has been moved indefinitely.
- Cleveland Metropolitan School District
CMSD has adopted full remote learning since March, and has extended this approach for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year. Recently, the school district has announced that remote learning will still be implemented for the second quarter of the school year, but they might consider phasing in voluntary in-person learning for students who may be more academically challenged, including those with special needs and high school seniors who need to get on-track for graduation. The school district will also review resumption of in-district competition for most winter sport teams.
- Painesville City Schools
As Lake County moved to Level 3 alert, Painesville City Schools has announced that the district will be moving back to remote learning until the county is moved to Level 2 or Level 1.
- Lakewood School District
The school district started the school year with remote learning instruction for the first quarter, but planned to transition to a hybrid model in October. However, with the recent surge in coronavirus cases in Cuyahoga County, the district has put this plan on hold and announced they will continue with remote learning, with no definite timetable on when this might change.
For other important COVID-19 updates in Chagrin Falls and the rest of Northeast Ohio, see https://michellemcquaderealestate.com/blog/covid-19/.
If you want to learn more about the Northeast Ohio lifestyle and real estate, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, Michelle McQuade. As a top Cleveland Realtor, I will be happy to answer your questions and help you navigate the real estate market in the area in these complex times. Call me at 440.823.2448 or drop me a note here.