FREMONT – Today 29 public and private schools met with Three Rivers Public Health Department and Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department to discuss schools’ protocols that follow the Risk Dial.
The Risk Dial used by Three Rivers and Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Departments uses eight data points on a three-week rolling average. The Risk Dial is broken into four colors associated with the level of risk.
- Low (Green) level of risk is 0-0.5
- Moderate (Yellow) level of risk is 0.5-2
- High (Orange) level of risk is 2-3.5
- Severe (Red) level of risk is 3.5-4
Each of these 29 public and private schools has created their own protocols associated with the level of risk identified weekly by the dial. Until this point, schools did have plans to transition from in-class learning to a hybrid or fully remote model in the Orange and Red levels.
Today, in accordance with guidance from Three Rivers and Elkhorn Logan Valley Health Departments, schools are announcing they will plan to keep students in class as much and as long as possible.
“We have learned a lot in the past three months and because of the terrific work our schools are doing, have found that keeping students in school is the safest place for them to be. School staff and students are wearing masks, social distancing, and sanitizing on a frequent basis. Because of all of these efforts, we have found very little transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff members within our schools.” said Terra Uhing, Executive Director of Three Rivers Public Health Department.
“The Risk Dial serves as a visual data review tool within each county to provide an insight into the spread of the virus,” stated Gina Uhing, Health Director for Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department. “For school districts, the number of cases within a school building or classroom serves as an indicator of how well the protocols in place are working and if adjustments are needed within the school environment.”
To date, schools that have had to temporarily move to virtual learning were closely related to the ability to find substitutes while individuals were required to quarantine.
Fremont Public Schools Superintendent Mark Shepard stated, “Our Blueprint is continually being updated – this guidance, coupled with the school districts in the Metro and Lancaster County being able to stay open in the Red risk level, provides us with the opportunity to follow their leads and continue to monitor our situation with students in class. The local health departments have been excellent in their communication since the beginning of the pandemic – we will continue to work closely with them and make decisions based on their guidance.”
Today the Risk Dials for the week ending October 31 in the Three Rivers Public Health jurisdiction is in the Orange level with a score of 2.63 and the Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health jurisdiction is in the Red level for each of the district’s four counties (Burt, Cuming, Madison, and Stanton).
West Point-Beemer Superintendent, Bill McAllister shared, “As the number of positive cases increases in our health district we have not had a corresponding increase in positive cases in the school – we have had an increase in the number of individuals in quarantine which is a testament to the fine job the health departments are doing in identifying potential exposures through contact tracing.”
“Our schools are a microcosm of the community – during a pandemic of this magnitude we know we’ll have students and staff contract the virus,” said Dan Koenig, Archbishop Bergan Catholic Principal. “Our local Three Rivers Health Department has served our interests well in providing guidance and direction as we continue to navigate through the pandemic, keeping our students and staff safe. We truly are blessed to have such an environment of cooperation and collaboration between all entities in our community helping each other navigate through this unprecedented pandemic.”
ESU 2 has held weekly meetings with public and private school superintendents. The Public Health Department officials hold a standing position on the agendas and provide updates as well as current guidance to local school officials. “Early on we sought opportunities to serve our school districts and decided providing support in the area of sourcing PPE and serving as a conduit for information was something we could do,” stated Dr. Ted DeTurk, ESU 2 administrator. “I’ve been impressed with the collaborative effort of all involved during these trying times.”
Education Service Unit #2
Archbishop Bergan Catholic Schools
Arlington Public Schools
Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools
Bancroft-Rosalie Public Schools
Blair Public Schools
Bishop Neumann Schools
Cedar Bluffs Public Schools
Fremont Public Schools
Guardian Angels Central Catholic Schools
Logan View Public Schools
Lyons-Decatur Public Schools
Mead Public Schools
North Bend Central Public Schools
Oakland-Craig Public Schools
Raymond Central Public Schools
Scribner-Snyder Public Schools
St. Paul Lutheran – Arlington
Tekamah-Herman Public Schools
Trinity Lutheran School
Wahoo Public Schools
West Point-Beemer Public Schools
Wisner-Pilger Public Schools
Yutan Public Schools
