THE Board of Education on Friday voted to reopen public schools for face-to-face instructions on Nov. 29.
Nov. 15 was the Public School System’s original target date for reopening.
“As much as the board wanted to reopen schools on Nov. 15, contact tracing is ongoing and there are new cases of individuals testing positive that are being reported on a daily basis,” BOE Chairman Andrew Orsini told Variety. “Safety is the priority for all as of now.”
During a virtual BOE meeting Friday afternoon, acting Education Commissioner Eric Magofna shared the results of a survey PSS conducted recently.
He said 56.9% of the 3,826 parents who participated in the survey wanted their children at home even if public schools reopen on Nov. 15 while 43.1% of the parents said they would allow their children to return to school for face-to-face instructions.
Magofna said 56.6% of the parents stated they were not comfortable sending their children to school if it reopens on Nov. 15 because of the rise in positive Covid-19 cases while 19.5% preferred not to respond to the survey question, and 13.7% said they were worried due to health and safety reasons. Other respondents said they were worried because of vulnerable family members or because their children were not vaccinated.
In a virtual meeting hosted by PSS last week, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna, Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez, and epidemiologist Stephanie Kern-Allely, MPH of the Pacific Island Health Officers Association updated parents about the Covid-19 situation on the island, and the availability of Covid-19 vaccines for eligible children.
During contact tracing, Muna said, they have identified Covid-19 positive cases involving one school staff member at Chacha Oceanview Middle School; two students at Kagman Elementary School; three students at San Vicente Elementary School; one student at Hopwood Middle School; five students at Marianas High School; and one student at Francisco Mendiola Sablan Middle School.
Muna said 10 teachers and school staff were quarantined and would be tested five days after exposure. “If they are negative, then they will be released from quarantine,” she added.
“These are persons under investigation. When we place people under quarantine order, it is because they are close contacts [of positive cases]. It does not necessarily mean that they are infected. We just want to stop the transmission and that is the purpose of putting individuals in quarantine,” Muna added.
Consequences
On Oct. 29, in consultation with the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and the Covid-19 Task Force, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres ordered the 10-day closure of all public and private schools “to mitigate against community spread….”
Magofna said, “While school closures are necessary protective measures, [they come] at a price.”
He said, “Learning is interrupted, widening the learning gap especially among underprivileged students who have few opportunities for growth beyond school…. It is unfair to measure students’ growth with traditional summative assessments when we have not provided direct instructions in learning,” the acting commissioner added.
Moreover, nutrition is compromised for students who rely on school meals for their sustenance, he said.
Magofna also said that the connections between students and teachers are disrupted.
Although distance learning is viable, Magofna said, it is a short-term solution and may pose greater challenges for students who may benefit more from face-to-face instructions.
The other consequences of shutting down schools is the lack of healthy and physical outlets for students, and the lack of opportunities to engage in social activities, Magofna said, adding that this can affect the students’ physical and mental wellness.
He said mental health referrals have increased this school year, but group support was also affected by the shutdown, “further isolating students who are in vulnerable situations.”
He said reopening the schools will allow PSS to continue critical vaccination efforts, provide regular screening, and increase awareness of safety measures and mitigation strategies through conversations with the community on health-related matters.
Opening schools also mitigates learning loss, he added.
“But the question remains whether or not postponing the face-to-face instructions outweighs the list of negative outcomes associated with the school closure,” Magofna said.
Challenging
CHCC CEO Muna said that contact tracing has been “challenging because we are trying to find some people…. If we can go to schools we will be able to assist in any way. Our goal is to keep the kids safe, keep your family safe.”
As for Covid-19 vaccination coverage in the CNMI, epidemiologist Stephanie Kern-Allely said the community had achieved the 80% rate for herd immunity.
The Covid-19 vaccinations rates are 72% for age group 12 to 17; 87% for age group 18 to 24; 90% for age group 25-39; 70% for age group 40-49; 91% for age group 50-64; and 100% for age group 65 years old and over. These are all fully vaccinated or have received two doses of vaccines.
The percentage of vaccination in the community allows for 100% school opening, Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez said.
Kern-Allely said in-person learning is critical for child development, “but we need to make sure it is safe to return to school, and to make sure it is sustainable.”
She emphasized that the vaccination of students, teachers and staff is the best prevention against Covid-19, in addition to the layers of protection being implemented in schools.
On Nov. 2, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for children 5 years old and up. It had been administered to approximately 1 million children in the U.S.
Since Oct. 28, 2021, and as of Saturday, CHCC had recorded 93 new cases of Covid-19, 85 of which were community cases — 69 identified through contact tracing, and 16 through community-based testing — and eight were travel-related cases.
“No outbreaks had been detected in a public school. Case investigation and contact tracing of people with Covid-19 who are PSS students, staff or teachers indicate household transmission,” Kern-Allely said.
The average community-based testing positivity rate was 0.37%.
There had been no severe cases of Covid-19, but one case was admitted to the hospital for precautionary observation. There had been no recent Covid-19-related deaths, Kern-Allely said.
There were two Covid-19 related deaths in March and April 2020. Earlier last month, CHCC reported the islands’ third Covid-19-related death. This individual had tested positive for Covid-19 in August, was identified on arrival through travel screening, and quarantined. He had underlying medical conditions.
Tools
Besides the availability of vaccines, Muna assured the community that CHCC and the task force have the tools to detect Covid-19 cases.
“We have testing strategy, and we have treatment. We have what we need to continuously protect the students and the teachers. The mitigation efforts that [PSS] put in place are working,” she added.
But despite the recommendations from health officials that it is safe to reopen schools for face-to-face instructions, the Board of Education’s elected members — Chairman Andrew Orsini, Vice Chairman Herman Atalig, Antonio Borja, Maisie Tenorio and Greg Borja — decided to schedule the reopening of public schools for Monday, Nov. 29.
Orsini said they cannot ignore the result of the recent survey of parents conducted by PSS.
“What is the sense of reopening the schools [this] week if the parents do not want to send their children to school?” Orsini asked.
Vaccinate students
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, who attended the BOE’s virtual meeting Friday, urged the PSS community to continue vaccinating teachers, staff and students.
“We are very fortunate to have vaccines available,” he added.
Eligible students should get vaccinated, he said. “It is for the betterment of all our students.”
