TENNESSEE, USA — The Tennessee Education Association is once again asking the state to delay school reopening and in-person instruction, saying the risk of further spreading COVID-19 is still too high to support in-person classes.
According to the TEA, school boards that do not have local health departments are relying on the state to provide information on virus transmission, and said the state has not set thresholds when school buildings must remain closed due to new virus infections.
The TEA referenced guidelines reported by the Harvard School of Public Health, which showed case rates above 25 per 100,000 people were at high risk for further spreading COVID-19 through community spread, which would extend into schools.
55 of Tennessee's 95 counties currently are at or above that case rate level, and another 17 counties are above 20 cases with rates that could be above 25 if trends continues, the TSA said.
The Harvard report said districts in the "red" should issue state-at-home orders for all learners while districts, states and federal agencies invest in remote learning to curb the spread of the virus.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, visited Tennessee recently and issued numerous recommendations, such as closing bars and limiting social gatherings, in order to take action sooner rather than later to prevent community spread.
Dr. Birx said Sunday those with a high caseload and active community spread should move to distance learning to get the epidemic under control -- warning rural infection rates are likely far higher than currently reported.
According to a recent interactive map created by the New York Times that pulls data from the University of Texas in Austin, schools with 500 or more students in Knox County are estimated to see at least 3 to 10 infected people arriving to school on the first week. Most of Tennessee is expected to see similar rates on the first week.
Alcoa Schools, which opened back up on July 22, confirmed three cases of COVID-19 at Alcoa High School and one case at Alcoa Elementary on Saturday. Alcoa High School has nearly 700 students and Alcoa Elementary roughly 500.
“Every school system should delay reopening of school buildings and begin the school year via distance learning, and if school buildings have reopened they should be closed. Unlike other states, the governor and commissioner cannot mandate school openings nor penalize districts for delay. This is a local decision and we are putting out virus data to show there is no sound decision on resuming in-person instruction in Tennessee,” said TEA President Beth Brown.
You can read the full Harvard report below: