As Loveland High to remain in hybrid learning District fails to provide full data

by David Miller

Loveland, Ohio– Yesterday, the Loveland School District described their newsletter that was issued at 4:34 PM as an “Urgent LHS Schedule Update”. In the release, they announced that Loveland High School will remain on the current hybrid learning model through Friday, November 6.

The students were scheduled to go to 5-day in-person learning (for all students that have chosen to attend in-person classes) this Monday, October 26.

Students in PK-8 will remain in their current “full in-person” learning model which began Monday, October 12.

An important note is that some students at all grade levels have not been attending any in-person classes and have enrolled in the District’s Remote Learning Academy, so none of the school buildings are at, or will be at, “full in-person” or 100% student capacity.

The in-person, high school students have been in a “blended” model of attendance since the start of the school year which means individual students have been alternating between in-person and remote learning activities at home.

The District has been regularly reporting in the afternoon when student or staff positive COVID 19 cases have been reported to the schools, but have refused to release data during the week about how many students or staff are under quarantine. In response to questions to Superintendent, Dr. Amy Crouse, she only says that the quarantine numbers will be released when they publish a new “dashboard” on Fridays. She was asked for the quarantine numbers on Tuesday and Wednesday this week when new positive cases were reported. When she refused, she was then asked, “What is the reason you will not answer the question or release this information to Loveland Magazine?” Her answer was, “I will forward the question about quarantines and our procedures for sharing those on a single day to our health team. They do all the contact tracing, communications, and protocols.”

Loveland Magazine is waiting on the answer.

In yesterday’s “Urgent LHS Schedule Update” the District said, “Due to a recent rise in LHS student cases and subsequent quarantines because of events outside of school, next week will operate like this week. As the district has continued to receive more information, we are concerned that more student cases may arise.”

The District says that their change of plans for the high school is based in part on “quarantines” and we believe students, parents, teachers, staff, and the community have a right to know how exactly how many students are not attending classes today because they are under quarantine.

The District has repeatedly emphasized how important it is for children to have an in-person educational learning opportunity. We believe that the quarantine numbers are important for the public to have when evaluating how effective the in-person model actually is.

Loveland Magazine has also asked for the report “Pandemic Preparedness and Planning” that LJB Inc. prepared for the District.

LBJ was awarded a contract in July for $66,250 for “Pandemic Preparedness and Planning” services. We have not received that report after repeated attempts. All we are being told is that the report is in the business manager’s office and he is out of his office and we should receive the report when he returns. Loveland Magazine sent the public records request directly to the Superintendent because we believe she certainly has a digital file of the report on her server and sending it to us should take but a click of her mouse.

The report belongs to the public. District taxpayers funded the report and they have a right to see what the experts recommended when they studied how many students and teachers should be in classrooms under the hybrid and full capacity models.

The Superintendent is making unilateral decisions based in part on quarantine data and should release the data and the “Pandemic Preparedness and Planning” report immediately.

From the District COVID-19 Update Newsletters

• In the evening on 10/21/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On 10/22/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On 10/22/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland Middle School tested positive for COVID-19.
• In the evening on 10/19/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On 10/20/20, the district was also notified that two additional students at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On 10/19/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On 10/13/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• The district was notified that a student at Loveland Primary School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Thursday, 10/8/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Tuesday evening, 10/6/20, the district was notified that two students at Loveland High School tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Sunday, 10/4/20, the district was notified that a non-teaching staff member at Loveland Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Monday, 10/5/20, the district was notified that a student at Loveland High School has also tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Saturday, September 19, 2020, the district was notified that a student member of Loveland Middle School tested positive for COVID-19. 
• (September 14) This weekend, the district was notified that one of our bus drivers has tested positive for COVID-19.