The Boulder Valley School District will switch to all remote learning starting Nov. 17 because of rising case numbers and quarantines, Superintendent Rob Anderson announced at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Anderson said skyrocketing cases have stretched contact tracing for both the health department and the district team, overwhelming the district to the point they can’t keep up — and likely can’t implement quarantines quickly enough to control spread.
“This is quite frankly agonizing,” he said. “We feel that we are at a place now that we are just overwhelmed.”
He said students will be remote through at least Jan. 5, following winter break. The district will review case rates after Thanksgiving and look first at bringing back students with intensive special needs, he said.
Four Boulder Valley schools, the district announced Tuesday, need to move to remote learning earlier, starting Thursday, because of the impact of coronavirus quarantines.
The schools are Community Montessori Elementary, University Hill Elementary and Horizons K-8, all in Boulder, and Broomfield Heights Middle. Remote learning starts Thursday because all students have Wednesday off for Veterans Day.
At Community Montessori, according to district officials, a symptomatic COVID-19 case that’s pending test results prompted quarantines. The school has 17 students and four staff members quarantined, according to the district’s coronavirus dashboard.
At University Hill, one symptomatic case that’s pending test results and three positive cases prompted quarantines. The school has 104 students and 17 staff members quarantined, according to the district’s coronavirus dashboard.
At Horizons K-8, a charter school, “multiple probable cases of COVID-19” prompted quarantines that have pulled 10 staff members from the building, according to Head of School Lucas Ketzer.
At Broomfield Heights, two symptomatic cases that are pending test results plus one positive case prompted quarantines.The school has 97 students and eight staff members quarantined, according to the district’s coronavirus dashboard.
Nine district schools now have transitioned to remote learning because of the impact of coronavirus quarantines.
Monarch High moved to remote learning Tuesday, Manhattan Middle moved Nov. 4, the middle grades of Aspen Creek K-8 moved Nov. 3, Boulder High moved Oct. 29 and Eisenhower Elementary moved Oct. 28. Eisenhower students returned in-person today. Manhattan Middle, Aspen Creek’s middle grades and Boulder High are set to return to their buildings Thursday. Monarch High students weren’t expected to return to their building Dec. 1, so won’t return.
Districtwide, Boulder Valley’s coronavirus dashboard shows 33 active cases, 11 symptomatic cases pending test results and 10 probable cases.
“We need to all work together to reverse the trend,” Anderson said. “Unless we work together, this trend won’t break.”
