Following DeWine's admonishment, Akron schools looking at reopening sooner

Akron Public Schools staff is exploring if students can return to in-person classes by March 1 to meet the governor's deadline, Superintendent David James said Tuesday in a committee board meeting.

James said he met with his senior staff in the morning for the first time since Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday admonished Akron for its reopening plan, calling it "unacceptable" that the district wasn't planning to open fully until March 22. 

More:DeWine spokesman: Akron Public Schools' Remote Plus program is not a 'hybrid' learning model

More:Gov. Mike DeWine: Akron schools not returning to classes by March 1 is 'unacceptable'

"My comments were, how can we push up, can we in fact meet that March 1 deadline?" James said during an instructional policy committee meeting. He also acknowledged the logistical challenges that would be involved. 

"Those things don't just typically happen overnight," he said.

Aside from the usual logistics like transportation, the district also is facing a massive undertaking of splitting its staff nearly in half, with some teaching students in-person and others dedicated just to those who will choose to remain online.

James' comments came just after DeWine reiterated in a news conference earlier in the afternoon Tuesday that schools that received early access to COVID-19 vaccinations for staff need to reopen in at least a hybrid fashion by March 1. 

James said he watched the news conference, noting the governor "doubled down" on comments from Friday.

James said he would come back to the board Monday with "suggestions on how we can move forward."

On Feb. 8, James' administrative team laid out the plan to offer in-person learning five days a week for kindergarten through second grade and for students with significant disabilities by March 15, and for everyone else by March 22.

James, along with nearly every other superintendent in the state, signed a document in January that pledged the district would reopen by March 1 if teachers and other school staff received early access to the vaccine. 

But James told the board at that time that he believed, based on conversations with the governor's office, that that deadline was flexible. 

That's not the case, DeWine said Tuesday, and he knew of no message otherwise. 

"It certainly did not come from me," DeWine said. "I have no knowledge it came from anybody else in our administration. No one in our administration would have had the authority to say that."

Conflicting timelines

Akron's administrators, school board and the teachers union have been in alignment about the plan to reopen, which, as it stands, gives staff enough time to receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and build immunity before being required to return to in-person school. 

The document James signed, however, says districts signing the form pledge to reopen by March 1 regardless of how the vaccine rollout goes. 

"For your adult school staff to be prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, you are required to return to an in-person or hybrid learning model by March 1, 2021," the form read. "The certification below certifies your commitment to do so, acknowledging that complete vaccine administration may not be completed by March 1, 2021, and regardless of vaccine uptake by your staff."

Akron schools staff received the first dose of the vaccine in two batches, with one group receiving their shot on Feb. 6 and the others Feb. 12 and 13. 

That means the second group will receive its second shot March 5 and 6. 

If the district attempts to move up the timeline for reopening and has to force teachers to go back without being fully vaccinated, it could set up a showdown between the administration and the teachers union.

Akron Education Association President Pat Shipe did not immediately respond to a phone call Tuesday seeking comment. 

Hybrid option

A small number of teachers volunteered to work with students in-person one or two days a week in the district's Remote Plus program, which started Feb. 1, without having yet received the vaccine. 

In a statement Friday, James said he hoped that program, which offers in-person supports for about 2,000 students, would satisfy the governor's requirement for at least a hybrid option. 

But DeWine reiterated Tuesday that a hybrid model needs to offer every student the opportunity to come back to school in-person, even if it's just for a few days a week. 

DeWine did not lay out the possible consequence for Akron or any other district not hitting the deadline. Akron already has given the first dose of the vaccine to all 3,000 staff members who wanted it, and DeWine said he would not withhold the second dose.

Akron has conveyed its plan for the March 15-March 22 reopening to families, who have to let the district know by Feb. 19 if they are choosing in-person or remote learning for the fourth quarter. Families have one chance to change their minds, three weeks into the quarter. 

March 22 is the first day of the fourth quarter, which means the reopening plan is perfectly aligned to the change in grading periods, district leaders have said. With some students changing teachers for the last quarter, it will be easier to do at the break between the grading periods. 

While Akron was a focus on Friday and again Tuesday, DeWine said Cleveland City Schools, a high school in Cincinnati and the Youngstown City School District also had reopening plans, or in some cases, a lack of a plan, that put them out of compliance with the agreement. Columbus City Schools may be as well, he said when asked and provided details of the district's plan. 

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet. 

By the numbers

Here is Tuesday's Ohio Department of Health coronavirus report for the region:

Ohio: 943,291 reported cases (2,026 new), 48,739 hospitalizations (104 new), 16,453 deaths (59 new). The 21-day average is 3,351 for new cases, 165 for hospitalizations and 267 for deaths.

Summit: Level 3 with 38,838 cases (150 new), 3,325 hospitalizations (eight new), 898 deaths (revised downward by two).

Stark: Level 3 with 28,508 cases (74 new), 1,629 hospitalizations (five new), 802 deaths (seven new).

Portage: Level 3 with 10,583 cases (51 new), 580 hospitalizations (three new), 150 deaths (unchanged).

Medina: Level 3 with 12,954 cases (49 new), 613 hospitalizations (one new), 213 deaths (one new).

Wayne: Level 3 with 7,717 cases (18 new), 368 hospitalizations (one new), 206 deaths (one new).

Note: Level 1 (yellow) = active spread; Level 2 (orange) = increased spread; Level 3 (red) = very high exposure and spread; Level 4 (purple) = severe exposure and spread. Levels are updated on Thursdays. All numbers are cumulative unless noted. New cases and deaths were just reported in the past day and could be many days older.