EDUCATION

Even with COVID vaccines, reopening Ohio schools by March 1 isn't a guarantee

Alissa Widman Neese
The Columbus Dispatch
Food-service employees from Columbus City Schools pass out meal packs at Linden-McKinley High School last week to help get families through winter break. The workers, from left, are Elsa Asgede, Carmentta Weaver and Camica McSwain.

More than a week after Gov. Mike DeWine announced a goal of resuming "in-person school by March 1" by soon offering Ohio's school employees COVID-19 vaccines, few details are available about how the state plans to achieve it.

Though they were encouraged by the announcement, educators and medical experts say it's unlikely that many schools will be able to resume completely normal operations by then, even with vaccines.

More:Teachers should be next in COVID-19 vaccine schedule, CDC says. Can a shot reopen schools?

The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is recommending vaccinated people wear masks and keep their distance, which might require districts to continue operating buildings at a reduced capacity. It's still not clear whether the vaccine prevents someone from contracting the virus and spreading it to others, or if it just keeps people from getting sick. 

No COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for children younger than 16 yet, either, so most students will be unprotected for some time.

"We're not out of the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination. Even after the vaccine has been widely distributed, it's not a panacea," said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union. "All the things the CDC is saying are important to keep schools safe are still going to be necessary, and I expect that through at least the end of the school year." 

During a press briefing last week, DeWine suggested that only schools that are operating in-person, or that indicate they're willing to shift to fully in-person classes, might be offered the shots, possibly as early as mid-January. As of last week, 45% of Ohio's students were learning completely online, 29% were in-person and 26% were a mix of both, he said. 

DiMauro said such stipulations might be counterproductive.

"We need to really pay attention to equity and vaccinate communities hit hardest by the pandemic first," DiMauro said. "That would mean in districts like Columbus, that haven't been able to open, because there hasn't been a safe way to do that yet."

The state's three major unions representing teachers and other school employees report that they have about 175,000 total members.

Columbus City Schools, the state's largest school district, with nearly 10,000 employees, hasn't had its 50,000 students attend classes in-person since March.

The district will continue with online instruction through at least Feb. 1, with an update expected in mid-January, spokesman Scott Wortman said.

But many workers have been busier than ever this year behind the scenes, maintaining buildings, paying bills and feeding families at meal pickup sites, said Lois Carson, president of the Columbus School Employees Association union representing about 3,300 non-teaching employees, including secretaries, bus drivers, clerks and custodians. Ohio law also requires bus drivers to transport students from private and charter schools.

When Carson, a secretary, learned last week that her members could soon be offered COVID-19 vaccines, too, she was ecstatic. She also is president of the statewide union, and said many conversations have focused mostly on vaccinating teachers.

"These folks are the unsung heroes behind this pandemic. They've been in full swing since March 16," said Carson, who herself contracted the virus last month but has recovered. "We're all waiting, wondering what the governor's next steps will be. We just hope that whichever route it goes, we can all have a conversation about it."

Lois Carson, president of the Columbus School Employees Association, said she hopes her union representing bus drivers, secretaries, custodians and food-service workers isn't left out of the conversation about plans for vaccinating school employees.

John Coneglio, president of the Columbus Education Association, the district's teachers union, also said COVID-19 vaccines could have a big impact.

"I can't think of a teacher that doesn't want to be in front of kids right now," Coneglio said. "But we have to do it safely."

Dan Tierney, DeWine's spokesman, said last week that "guidelines are still being developed" and there is no anticipated date yet of when his office will release them.

When asked at a press briefing if a district operating in a "hybrid" model — a blend of online and in-person instruction — would qualify for vaccines, DeWine said "I suppose we're open to discuss anything," but "what was in our mind when we looked at this was full time."

Dr. Octavio Ramilo, chief of infectious diseases at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said that although vaccinating educators is an important first step, there are still many unknowns about how COVID and its vaccines impact children.

Because the developing bodies of children respond to medications differently than the bodies of adults, developing vaccines for adults first and children second is a typical process for novel vaccines, Ramilo said.

Generally, most children don't become severely sick when infected with COVID-19, he said.

More:Ohio students exposed to COVID-19 in classroom won't have to quarantine

But until they're vaccinated, it's still possible that students could transmit the virus among each other and then take it home to more vulnerable, unvaccinated family members if they aren't cautious, Ramilo said.

And some educators might not take the vaccine even if it's offered. DeWine said at a Wednesday press conference that he won't be mandating it for any workers.

"We need to continue to keep our guard up, to use masks, avoid crowds, and be cautious about distance," Ramilo said. "Until we immunize a big population in the country, even if you get the vaccine, you need to continue to be cautious at school and work."

Further research into child vaccines for COVID-19 is a key next step, Ramilo said.

"Maybe, if everything goes well, we can plan for school in the fall in a more normal way," Ramilo said. "I think that's a dream we all have in our minds."

As district officials await further instruction, they said that last week's announcement still offered hope for an eventual return to normalcy during a tumultuous school year.

Throughout the fall, most districts in the Franklin County area have flip-flopped between completely online classes and hybrid learning, operating buildings only at a reduced capacity. A few attempted or planned to return to fully in-person classes but struggled and backtracked as COVID-19 cases surged in their communities. A key issue was staffing shortages, because employees were infected or exposed to the virus and had to quarantine at home.

"Providing the vaccine will make the environment safer for staff and students and will advance the timeline as we prepare to reopen the school district," said Philip Wagner, superintendent of the Licking Heights school district, which straddles Franklin and Licking counties. "It is encouraging that we can begin to return to some normalcy that our staff and students look forward to and appreciate."

In early January, the district will be conducting a survey to determine how many staff members are interested in receiving the vaccine, Wagner said. The district will be operating remotely through at least Jan. 15.

Vince Payne, spokesman for the Hamilton Local school district, south of Columbus, said students are currently learning remotely but the goal is to return them to hybrid classes by Jan. 19.

The main issue has been a shortage of employees and substitutes, Payne said.

"We are looking forward to the day we can bring our students back into the classroom," Payne said. "The challenge has really been the impact of quarantine within our employees, related to being a contact of an actual COVID case."

awidmanneese@dispatch.com

@AlissaWidman