Columbus schools will be entirely online this fall

Columbus City Schools officials have abandoned their plans to partially reopen buildings to students to start the upcoming school year.

All schools will remain shuttered and students will start the 2020-21 school year learning remotely from home, Superintendent Talisa Dixon announced at a Tuesday news conference.

The school year starts Sept. 8, and the arrangement will last through at least the first quarter, which ends Oct. 27.

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“Although it was our hope that we could return to some form of in-person learning in September, the risk of bringing back 50,000 students and 10,000 employees to our buildings in the fall is far too great,” Dixon said. “We cannot take that risk.”

Columbus is Ohio’s largest school district.

It appears other districts in central Ohio and throughout the state could be following suit.

Shortly after Dixon’s announcement, South-Western City Schools sent a letter to families indicating it also would start the school year virtually.

Hilliard City Schools announced Monday that it would shift to fully remote learning if Franklin County’s number of COVID-19 infections doesn’t decrease greatly by Aug. 10. Previously, both districts had announced plans for a hybrid of in-person and online learning to start the school year.

On Friday, leaders of the Cleveland school district announced their students will start the 2020-21 school year online only on Aug. 24.

“Ultimately, safety and health concerns led to a final decision that would keep all of us safe as we work collectively to lower the rate of COVID-19 infections,” Dixon said Tuesday.

A decision hasn’t been made regarding fall sports, she said.

Columbus’ decision follows a recommendation from Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts that classes shouldn’t resume until coronavirus cases are trending downward for at least four weeks.

That is also now the recommendation of Franklin County Public Health, spokeswoman Mitzi Kline said Tuesday. Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola is working on a memo to be distributed to area superintendents, she said.

Coronavirus cases in central Ohio and statewide continue to climb. As of Tuesday, there have been 12,636 confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in Columbus and 389 deaths. On July 11, there were 280 new cases, a daily high.

Franklin County still leads the state with its number of coronavirus cases, 16,042, and its deaths related to the virus, 496, as of Tuesday.

Roberts, along with Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and City Council President Shannon Hardin, joined school district officials at Tuesday’s news conference and voiced their support of shifting classes fully online.

“Going completely virtual to start this school year will save lives and prevent the spread of this deadly disease, but this is a huge challenge to our schools,” Hardin said. “This is why we must all stand together.”

Last week, Ginther announced that the city will give the district $7 million from its $157 million in federal CARES Act funds so it can purchase 20,000 Google Chromebook laptops for students without devices at home.

Officials said they plan to work together with community partners to provide families with additional support, noting the challenges they face when children are unable to attend school while adults are expected to be working.

On June 30, Dixon outlined plans for students in grades K-8 to return to school buildings just two days a week, in two cohorts that wouldn’t mingle. The remaining three days of school were to have occurred online from home.

The plan was always for high school students to learn online.

Last week, the district’s teachers union released an “open letter” signed by about 2,700 educators — about two-thirds of its members — calling upon district leaders to start the 2020-21 school year entirely online.

Regina Fuentes, an English teacher at Eastmoor Academy High School and spokeswoman for the Columbus Education Association, called Tuesday’s announcement bittersweet.

“We absolutely want to be back with our students,” Fuentes said. “But in this particular circumstance, the safest option is the best option.”

The Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, released a statement Tuesday afternoon calling for completely remote learning in school districts located in the state’s most-infected counties.

“I hope that more districts follow suit,” President Scott DiMauro said, regarding Columbus’ move. “Certainly, those other districts that are in and around Columbus should.”

Dispatch Reporter Megan Henry contributed to this story.

awidmanneese@dispatch.com

@AlissaWidman