Dayton middle, high schools switch to remote learning amidst COVID-19 surge

DAYTON—The Dayton School Board called an emergency meeting on Monday, August 30, to discuss switching to remote learning for middle and high school students.

Columbia County Public Health officials agreed with the decision to go remote for secondary students, Superintendent Guy Strot told meeting attendees.

“This is a good opportunity to try and get cases back under control, instead of letting it grow to a much larger issue,” Strot said.

Over the weekend, Superintendent Strot said that one volleyball athlete had tested positive, and, as a result, the entire volleyball team was in quarantine. In addition to athletes testing positive, Strot said, multiple staff members tested positive or were directly exposed and are now in quarantine.

“We are down five staff, with very few subs,” Strot said during the Zoom meeting. “It was getting harder and harder to try and maintain all of the services.”

Strot said that more than 14 middle and high school students had tested positive, while there were two cases in the elementary. Twelve students in the middle and high schools are in quarantine, while three elementary students are quarantined.

Strot said that there were a small number of students that started the year in quarantine.

In the elementary school, students have been compliant about mask requirements, Strot shared, and extra preventative measures, including temporarily moving dining facilities outdoors, have been implemented.

Strot said that, at the time of the meeting, it was difficult to tell how many students may have contracted the virus. He noted that, in his personal observations, the Delta variant takes slightly longer for infected individuals to show symptoms. Based on that timeline, it could be a few more days before exposed students became symptomatic.

Dayton secondary students will attend remote learning through Friday, September 3. The COVID-19 outbreak will be re-evaluated on Labor Day, Strot said, after which a letter will be sent out to parents and caregivers on Monday with a learning update.

“If we have fewer active cases, and we have not had a rise in sickness at the middle/high school, that would be great news, and we can come back on Tuesday, September 7,” Strot said. “If we have an increase in cases, and an increase in the number of students who are contracting COVID-19, then we might extend it (remote learning).”

Strot said the district would move secondary staff to the elementary to help bridge staffing gaps.

The district asks parents and caregivers to let their school know if students become symptomatic, with Strot adding that Public Health will report student cases to the district.

High school and middle school football practices have been halted for four days.

“Having the Dayton kids intermingle with the Waitsburg kids is difficult right now,” Strot said. “We did have at least one football player test positive. It was taking too big of a risk to infect several football players and cause a longer remote extension.”

Strot said there were no plans to resume student screening, including temperature checks, upon returning to school, but that may change. He said that staff would continue to screen students for symptoms, explaining that if a student presents two or more symptoms, they will be sent home for up to ten days or until they provide a negative test.

As of Tuesday, there were 35 active cases of COVID-19 in Columbia County.