Spike in infections keeps Dayton Schools in remote learning

DAYTON-Up until this week the Dayton School District was one of the few districts offering in-person learning in the state. This was largely due to the low number of COVID-19 cases in the county, as well as the controlled environment that is offered for the children and staff adhering strictly to the safety guidelines. Since the start of the school year, student enrollment has remained stable.

Now, with numbers climbing, and some detected in the schools, Dayton School District is switching to distance learning temporarily to assess the situation as it changes.

After Thanksgiving Week’s emergency board meeting put the system into remote learning, cases started to climb, according to Supt. Guy Strot. In the follow-up emergency meeting last Saturday, directors opted to keep remote classes through Dec. 4 due to four staff testing positive and in isolation.

There were two positive students before Thanksgiving, then positives started going up in the community, Strot said. There was one more on Nov. 26, two on Friday and four more on both Saturday and Sunday, he explained. Monday the number was two and Tuesday it was one positive, none of them students.

“We see the numbers are going down,” Strot said, “but we don’t want to go to in-person then two days later go back to remote.

“If there is a bump from Thanksgiving,” he said, “we may see it this Thursday or Friday.”

Public Health’s Martha Lanman has informed Strot that as people move indoors due to the fall and winter seasons, the incubation period of the coronavirus shortens to five or six days.

Depending on what happens, directors will hold another emergency meeting Saturday, or earlier if numbers warrant, to determine the school’s short-term future operations, Strot said.