School Operating Model Decision Making FAQs
(Q) How are we determining school learning models?
(A) Our overall goal is to offer in-person learning as an option to the families we serve,
but we only do so when the data support this decision. In making school learning model
decisions, we consider several factors, including: Community Spread, Employee
Sentiment, Parent Preference, Local District Operating Model, and COVID-19 cases in
the building. All variables influence how we determine the appropriate learning model,
but not all variables have equal weight. A key factor in the equation and one to which
we give considerable weight is the rate of community spread of COVID-19.
(Q) What does the rate of community spread mean?
(A) Using the original guidance shared by Dr. Fauci and the CDC, we focus on three
measures when analyzing the spread of COVID-19 in a community:
1. Weekly number of cases per 100,000 residents in a county.
2. COVID test positivity rate.
3. COVID infection rate.
Based on CDC guidance, we have categorized each measure into green, red, and
yellow zones that help guide our thinking around how we will provide instruction. To
break it down:
• Green = Fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 residents, COVID test positivity rate
less than 5%, and an infection rate of 1.0 or less.
• Yellow = 10-100 cases per 100,000 residents, COVID test positivity rate of 5-
10%, and an infection rate of 1.0-1.3.
• Red = More than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, COVID test positivity rate of
greater than 10%, and an infection rate of 1.3 or higher.
From an operational standpoint:
• Green = In-person learning.
• Yellow = We need to weigh our options carefully to determine whether in-person,
hybrid, or remote is the best option.
• Red = Remote learning.
(Q) How do you track this data in real-time?
(A) NHA is finalizing a dashboard using data from COVIDActNow.org, which is a
multidisciplinary team of technologists, epidemiologists, health experts, and public policy
leaders working to provide disease intelligence and data analysis on COVID in the U.S. It
was recommended by NHA’s epidemiological consultants.
We use the data from COVIDActNow.org to regularly monitor the degree of spread in the
communities we serve around the country.
(Q) The COVID-19 numbers in my county have changed. Should we change
operating models?
Measures of community spread like cases per 100K and test positivity rates change
daily. Numbers can fluctuate over a relatively short period of time. At the advice of our
healthcare partners, we look at data over 2 to 4 weeks before we consider the pattern
material for school operating model decisions.
(Q) Why do our data reference points differ from our local health department’s
numbers?
(A) There are many sources of COVID data and sources vary on how they aggregate the
data. For example, some websites look at daily cases, others weekly. Some websites
consider number of residents by 100,000, others by 1 million. Yet one more way they
may differ is because some websites are giving overall results (since COVID began) vs.
what is happening today.
We recognize this adds a layer of complexity when trying to understand how the spread
of COVID-19 is affecting your community. That is why it was important to us that we
partner with a health expert to help us navigate this complexity. Our healthcare partner
has recommended the COVID Act Now website as a reliable source of data.
(Q) Why is NHA choosing to transition learning models now, especially when
some schools are only a few weeks into the school year?
(A) We all agree that providing in-person learning is the best option for meeting most
students learning and social/emotional needs. Even so, in some situations, the
community spread data supported us opening with in-person learning, but our schools
opened in hybrid or remote. We did so because we factored in employee sentiment and
school board preference. As we gain experience operating schools in this environment
and when community spread data allow, we are working to increase the number of in-
person days for students.
(Q) You talk about data driving the decision to be remote or hybrid/in-person. The
data is the same now as it was this summer. What is different now?
(A) The community spread data often did support more in-person learning than what we
started with at the beginning of the school year. However, out of an abundance of
caution we started with stronger measures of social distancing in place than what may
have been necessary. We also wanted to develop a few weeks of operational
experience and see what we learned about operating schools in a COVID-19
environment. We take seriously the feelings of our staff and families. It has been a
balancing act to ensure we are providing best-in-class education in a safe and
welcoming environment that meets everyone’s needs.
(Q) When we shift to fully in-person instruction it will make social distancing
difficult, if not impossible. Why is it now okay NOT to social distance?
(A) The 6-foot social distancing practice is an intervention schools use when the
community spread of COVID-19 is moderate to high. It is one of several interventions
we use to limit the spread of COVID-19, including the use of face coverings, regular
sanitization and cleaning, hand washing, and grouping students into cohorts. As the rate
of community spread decreases, we may change the number of interventions we use in
our school buildings. If COVID-19 community spread is low enough, it may not be
necessary to implement 6-foot social distancing.
(Q) What do we know about the risks of COVID-19?
(A) There is not a singular, universal risk associated with COVID-19. Contracting
COVID-19 means something different for everyone depending on each person’s health
situation. However, recently the CDC released updated recovery rates for COVID-19 for
the general population, broken out by age demographic. The following is the percentage
of those infected who recover from COVID-19, as estimated by the CDC:
o 0-19 years: 99.997%
o 20-49: 99.98%
o 50-69: 99.5%
o 70+: 94.6%
According to the CDC model, recovery rates vary by age. For people 70 or older, the
risks from COVID-19 are much higher than children ages 0-19. This information can be
helpful for staff and parents to calibrate the relative risk of non-recovery from COVID-19.
