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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
A6 STATE East Oregonian Thursday, January 21, 2021 Oregon expecting State makes in-person instruction easier New guidance $38 million in lowers COVID-19 bar for schools federal stimulus vaccine funds By ELIZABETH MILLER Oregon Public Broadcasting By JES BURNS Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Oregon is expecting to receive a large chunk of federal stimulus money this week to help pay for its COVID- 19 vaccination program. Congress approved $3 billion for states to use for vaccine activities under the supplemental pandemic stimulus bill that went into law in late December. Oregon’s share of those funds is $38.1 million, although only a portion of that is expected to be distributed this week. “Particularly now, it is crucial that states and communities have the resources they need to conduct testing, and to distribute and administer safe, high-quality COVID- 19 vaccines safely and equitably,” CDC Director Robert Redfi eld said in a statement by the agency. The money can be used to promote and track as well as to distribute and administer the vaccines. T he lat ter is where Oregon’s vaccination program has bogged down. The state has struggled to vaccinate large numbers of people, although by late last week it was able to hit the 12,000 doses-per- day vaccination target put forth by Gov. Kate Brown. Oregon Health Authority Chief Medi- cal Offi cer Dana Hargu- nani cited challenges with vaccine distribution as well as navigating sched- uling, physical distancing at vaccination sites and the observation period required immediately after the vaccine is adminis- tered. OHA Director Patrick Allen told OPB’s “Think Out Loud” on Jan. 15 that the federal money would go towards staffing and backfi lling positions that have been reassigned to the vaccination effort. “Much of that money gets shared with local public health and commu- n it y-based orga n i za- tions and others to do that work,” he said. “Hospitals have been doing a lot of work on their own dimes that we’ll need to be able to pay for.” OHA will also use the money on public outreach promoting the vaccine. As of Jan. 15, OHA reported 15,789 Orego- nians have been fully vaccinated (receiving both necessary doses for maxi- mum protection) with another nearly 139,000 people having received the fi rst dose. But plans to expand the pool of Orego- nians eligible for vacci- nation have been stymied by recent revelations that states would not receive an expected increase in vaccine shipments from the national stockpile — because there is no national stockpile. Oregon was expecting 200,000 additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Allen said the supply of vaccines from the federal government is now the biggest limiting factor to Oregon’s vaccination push. The stimulus bill also provides $243 million to Oregon for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, surveillance and contain- ment efforts. SA LEM — School districts around the state had been waiting on the Tuesday, Jan. 19, update to Oregon’s “Ready Schools, Safe Learn- ers” guidance. The new guidance lowers the bar for districts to bring students back to the class- room for in-person instruc- tion. Health and safety proto- cols, like wearing face masks and learning in cohorts, remain required by the Oregon Department of Education. But metrics for reopening remain advisory. That continues Gov. Kate Brown’s move last month to leave fi nal decisions on reopening schools to local districts. “We all know that in-per- son instruction provides our children and families with access to an equitable education,” said ODE Direc- tor Colt Gill in a release announcing the updated guidance. “Schools are a center of services to students and families, offering nutritious meals, access to social-emo- tional and mental health supports, as well as physical health services. This guid- ance provides new resources to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and better meet students’ needs in this time.” The state’s new guid- ance says districts should still consider community case counts before reopen- ing — but lowers the bar for COVID-19 case rates recom- mended for hybrid learn- ing, especially for Oregon’s youngest students. Now, schools are advised to begin reopening for “elementary on-site and hybrid transition” when county case counts per 100,000 are 350 or below. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File Sunridge Middle School teacher Katie Bodewig leads a math lesson from her classroom in Pendleton on Sept. 9, 2020. The previous metrics set the metrics for a transition to “limited in-person instruc- tion” at 200 or below. County test positivity requirements have changed too. These updated advisory metrics align to recommen- dations from the Harvard Global Health Institute, according to the Oregon Depar tment of Educa- tion. These relaxed metrics allow in-person elemen- tary instruction with higher COVID-19 case rates than previous metrics. ODE said the changes align with recommendations from the Harvard Global Health Institute. According to weekly metrics reported by the Oregon Health Author- ity, these metrics allow for reopening in several Oregon counties, including Mult- nomah County. Portland Public Schools, the largest district in Mult- nomah County and Oregon, previously announced a plan to offer limited in-per- son instruction for some students. The new g uidelines received a “mixed” recep- tion from ED 300, a parents’ group that’s been pushing the state to adopt less rigid guidelines and to allow more local control in school reopening decisions. On one hand, the group said, “Parents are encour- aged by the revisions that permit the state’s youngest learners to return to in-per- son learning in both hybrid and full-time models,” in a statement provided by co-founder Rene Gonzalez. But the approach to older students has the parent group arguing that the last 10 months out of school has already harmed the academic development and mental health of thousands of students. “We continue to be very concerned that the state of Oregon is writing off a generation of middle-school- ers and high-schoolers particularly in larger coun- ties,” Gonzalez said, refer- ring to the higher case counts and greater diffi- culty of reopening in more populous counties. Gonza- lez and others in the parents’ group are advocating for not just a resumption of instruc- tion for older students, but a return of sports, activities and academic counseling. For schools that choose to reopen for hybrid learn- ing despite high case counts, they must offer access to on-site COVID testing for symptomatic students and staff, plus those with known exposure to COVID-19. ODE recommends a 14-day window before retur ning to in-person instruction. “ T h is w ill suppor t district planning, family communication, and a more gradual—rather than rushed— opening,” accord- ing to the guidance. In a message to fami- lies on Jan. 19, Beaverton School District asked for time in allowing staff to consider ODE’s guidance. They also addressed frus- trations from parents seeing other school districts — both around the state and nation- ally — reopen. In addition, district offi cials cited a lack of liability protection around reopening. IT’S IN YOUR INBOX before your mailbox Sign up for free digital access Call 800-781-3214 East Oregonian subscribers can receive daily email updates and uninterrupted digital delivery on a computer, tablet and smartphone EastOregonian.com/newsletters
