Schools, masks and vax: How TSC, LSC, WL, Purdue reopening plans compare
Schools, masks and vax: How TSC, LSC, WL, Purdue reopening plans compare
How the three public school districts and Purdue University stack up when it comes to masks, vaccinations and in-person classes as they open under an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Back to school this year means … well, back to school, back to classrooms and back to something closer to normal, after a year of hybrid in-class/virtual-class mix at Greater Lafayette’s three public school districts and Purdue.
Last week, Purdue’s trustees locked in on a reopening plan that put the responsibility to keep campus open on a willingness of students and staff to get vaccinated and then be ready to adjust as the semester wore on.
“We know we might have to – probably will have to – make changes as we go,” Trustee Chairman Mike Berghoff said. “But we feel that even with a record freshman class coming in, it’s time to get campus back to full and back to what you might call a typical campus experience.”
West Lafayette Community School Corp. was the last of the three districts in Tippecanoe County to set its reopening plan, voting Monday night. So, how do they all compare on some key points of their COVID-19 precautions? Here goes:
In person instruction
Tippecanoe School Corp.: Yes, when the school year starts Aug. 11. From the reopening plan: “We believe that our students perform best academically, socially, and emotionally when they are learning in person with their peers. This model offers the highest quality of a well-rounded education and best utilizes the talents of our professional educators and staff. … TSC is not offering a fully virtual optional track for students in 2021-22 similar to what was created for the 2020-21 school year.”
Lafayette School Corp.: Yes, when school starts Aug. 10. The reopening plan says: “While students will attend a normal instructional day, there will be numerous new health and safety protocols in place. Social distancing will be a high priority. … An E-Learning opportunity will only be available for students who provide a note from their family medical provider that it would not be in the student’s best medical interest to attend school in person.”
West Lafayette Community School Corp.: Yes, when school starts Aug. 11. The West Side board, the plan says, “recognizes that in-person instruction offers the highest-quality educational experience to students and maximizes the skill and professional abilities of educators and staff. … Students with a verified medical need documented by a physician may be eligible for an alternative educational arrangement. Situations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”
Purdue: Yes, when the semester starts with campus back to full density Aug. 23. From the Protect Purdue site: “For now, we anticipate that virtually all academic and classroom policies will return to pre-COVID-19 standards for the fall semester, including regulations on class attendance. Per our pre-COVID policy, students will be expected to attend class and inform the instructor if absent due to illness.”
COVID-19 vaccination requirements
TSC: No mandated COVID-19 vaccination for students or staff. TSC recommends families consults with a medical provider regarding vaccination of their children.
LSC: No mandate. From the plan: “The LSC recommends that staff members and families consult with their family medical provider for questions or concerns regarding a COVID-19 vaccine.”
WL: Vaccinations aren’t mandatory. But recommendations for masks and quarantines are based on whether students and staff are vaccinated.
Purdue: President Mitch Daniels announced this spring that vaccinations would not be required. But those who don’t show they are vaccinated will be required to go through the same sort of random testing regimen every student had to deal with during the 2020-21 academic year. “We’ve given everyone a choice to take personal responsibility, one way or the other,” Daniels said. “It’s up to them how they want to do their part to keep the campus open.” Students who show they are vaccinated have been entered into a drawing for one of 10 prizes of $9,992 – the equivalent of the base tuition price for an in-state student. Faculty and staff will be entered for other, smaller prizes.
Face mask rules
TSC: As of July 1, “students and staff are not required to wear masks in school, masks are optional in school and on school grounds. The TSC recommends consultation with your family medical provider regarding your decision to wear a mask.”
LSC: Also as of July 1, “face masks and/or face coverings will be optional while on any of the LSC properties or in a LSC building. … Unless the CDC, the State of Indiana Health Department or the Tippecanoe County Health Department issue a directive that face masks and/or face covering are mandated, the LSC will follow the guidance that face masks and/or face coverings are optional.”
WL: West Side will have two sets of rules, depending on grades, based on the fact that those under 12 have not been cleared to be vaccinated.
For K-6: Masks are required for all unvaccinated students indoors when not eating. Masks are required for unvaccinated staff when not eating and for all visitors. Vaccinated staff are encouraged to wear a mask if more comfortable doing so.
Grades 7-12: Masks are not required for vaccinated students and staff. Masks are encouraged for unvaccinated students and those vaccinated students more comfortable wearing them. Masks are encouraged for unvaccinated staff and visitors and for the vaccinated more comfortable wearing them.
Purdue: The West Lafayette campus lifted many mask requirements over the summer. According to the Protect Purdue site: “We intend to start classes in the fall with little or no use of face masks. We will make and communicate a final decision on masking in classrooms and instructional spaces closer to the start of the semester. Key factors in that decision will include the percentage of the campus population that has been vaccinated, the number and severity of local and campus cases, and the latest scientific information relative to variants and the risk they pose, particularly to unique environments like ours that are densely populated and involve many individuals congregating together indoors for prolonged periods of time.”
Riding buses
TSC: All students and adults will be required to wear masks on TSC buses. The district will have masks available for students who forget them.
LSC: All students and adults will be required to wear masks on LSC buses. The district will have masks available for students who forget them.
WL: “Masks are required for all on school transportation, including CityBus, until further notice, per federal requirements.”
Purdue: Purdue’s plan does not directly address riding buses around campus.
Contact tracing and quarantining
TSC: The plan says: “Close contacts identified through the contact tracing process will have to quarantine as follows: vaccinated individuals do not have to quarantine; unvaccinated close contacts must quarantine according to (Indiana State Department of Health) guidelines.”
LSC: The district says it will follow the CDC, Indiana State Department of Education and Tippecanoe County Health Department guidelines.
WL: According to the plan, “vaccinated individuals identified as close contacts of a COVID-positive individual are not required to quarantine, but should monitor for symptoms and isolate and test if symptoms develop. … Unvaccinated individuals identified as close contacts are required to test and quarantine per CDC and (Indiana State Department of Health) guidelines.”
Purdue: After setting aside as many as 1,000 beds for quarantine purposes during the past school year, the university says the number will be considerably smaller, given that current CDC guidelines don’t require vaccinated people who come in close contact with someone with COVID-19 to isolate. Per Protect Purdue, students could be on their own if they need to quarantine: “Since on-campus accommodations will be fewer in general and may not be available at any given time, all Boilermakers must have a personal plan for proper isolation or quarantine should it be necessary, particularly unvaccinated individuals should they be exposed to an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 or test positive themselves.”
This and that …
REDISTRICTING WORK: Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette reported this week that state lawmakers were gearing up for a mid- to late-September session to redraw congressional and General Assembly maps – a job the legislature has to do once every 10 years. Data from the U.S. Census are expected by Aug. 16, Kelly wrote. That session likely will be a showdown between reformers who want a more transparent, citizen-driven process versus a supermajority House and Senate looking to protect its hold on districts and on Statehouse and congressional power. For good coverage about how that battle has played out in recent months, The Indiana Citizen, a nonprofit advocate for redistricting reform, has been on top of it. Check the coverage here.
ROOMS AT PURDUE: With a record 10,000-plus freshmen expected on campus for the fall 2021 semester, Purdue had been warning that residence halls would double up some rooms traditionally reserved as singles and triple up in some doubles. “It’s going to be tight,” Purdue Trustees Chairman Mike Berghoff said last week. “But I think we’re going to make it.” The first sign of just how tight came this week, when The Purdue Exponent – the campus’ independent student newspaper – reported that some students had received notes last week telling them “that despite meeting the housing deadline, they will be placed into ‘reconfigured’ housing space, outside of the traditional dorms.” That’s not a new story. Purdue, through the years, has had to find room in study halls and other spaces when dorm rooms and leased apartments weren’t enough. Some years, those temporary accommodations last a matter of weeks. Some years, the situation goes viral, as they did in fall 2018. We’ll find out which one of those it will be for Purdue when August brings 1,000 more freshmen than it’s ever had.
Thanks, again, to sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts for the help to make these reports possible. Go see Robert Cray. It will be good for you.
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