February 6, 2021
Follow Up to Recent Communications & Town Hall
Dear Team Orange,

First off, I want to say thanks to all of the families who joined us last week for the Town Hall. Likewise, I am grateful for our fine staff and their continued efforts to serve all of our fine students. Since the meeting and related communications, there have been some great questions and suggestions. Please know that our administrators will continue to work with the staff in that true Team Orange spirit to make the March 1st transition a success. The purpose of this message is to clear up some key points that were recurrent in recent correspondence. 

Social Distancing
  • The goal for all classrooms is still to maximize distance between seats; however, 6 feet distancing that was the key component of the hybrid model can no longer be guaranteed

  • The District will endeavor to keep at least 3 feet of distance between seats. While some smaller classes could still see 6 feet of distance between seats, some larger classes may necessitate 3 or less feet between seats. Here is a photo of a sample classroom with 17 seats, many spaced at 6 feet and a few that are more than 3 feet but a little less than 6

Lunch 
  • Orange High School has been seating students at lunch at 4 per table with dividers. This has been going well without incident, and we anticipate the same for Moreland Hills School and Brady Middle School

  • Restaurants are not a fair comparison to the school setting when it comes to clientele, but even if they were, the serving method, seating and mitigation strategies at work in our cafeterias far outweigh what is going on in the restaurants. Our cafeterias are large open spaces with excellent ventilation. This with the dividers and UV & ionization supplemented HVAC make for a thoughtfully mitigated space

  • Linked here are photos of seating samples. Again, since we are not yet up and running with lunch at Moreland and Brady, these are in progress. The dividers at MHS will also be clear, but these photos show the dividers with the blue protective coating still on them. Also, the Brady table spacing is accurate

  • The principals are amazing, and they will continue to work on having some options ready

Quarantine Guidance
  • In recent correspondence, I shared that Orange will be following the revised guidance as the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH) has adopted the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) guidance

  • The document linked in the bullet above also reflects the ODH acknowledgment of 3 feet of distancing as cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics. (Please note that upon listening to the Town Hall audio, I mistakenly referenced the Cleveland Clinic back to school guidance and AAP when I meant to reference the ODH and AAP as my sources of support for 3 feet of social distancing consideration)

  • In practice, this means that in the typical classroom (not including cafeterias, band, choir, gym, etc.) students who are close contacts of a positive case will not be required to quarantine unless they were within 3 feet for a cumulative period of 15 minutes as long as masking was in place (before this guidance, 6 feet was the threshold). Everything else will be the same as far as notifications, and non-typical classrooms and cafeterias will still have the 6 foot threshold for quarantining

  • In practice, this means on the bus for typical to and from school AM/PM transportation, (not including busing for extra/co-curriculars) only students who are non-household members sharing a seat or sitting within 1 aisle seat of a positive case will quarantine. Extra/co-curricular busing will still have the 6 foot threshold for quarantining

Full Remote Learning
  • The all-day model will require a change to the day for remote students too

  • Administrators and staff recognize that continuous hours of screen time will not be the best for kids, especially the younger students. More communication will come from Principals related to this concern, as well as other building and instructional logistics. Currently, OHS students have been attending full days of in-person and full-days of remote learning successfully, and we are confident that this will be the case for the younger students too

Again, thanks for engaging and for working together to support our kids. Please look for more communication from the principals, and do not hesitate to contact them for clarification as we move forward, together. Over the past year, we have evolved from a full asynchronous model in the spring to a much more successful and effective remote model this past fall, followed by an effective hybrid model. The March 1st transition to an all-day model will also be successful with our continued efforts to work together. #TeamOrange

Sincerely,

Lynn
Dr. Lynn Campbell, Superintendent