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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2021)
6A | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS BACK from page 1A But since then, the Delta variant has entered the com- munity, causing multiple outbreaks, shutdowns and scares. “People are wary of out- breaks, considering what’s happened over the past month,” Grzeskowiak said. “People are uncertain of how people behave outside of work, how they control en- vironments, that’s kind of the unknown factor people are concerned about.” And this leads to uncer- tainty for numbers of people — parents concerned about education and their living situations, businesses about their staffing and students about their lives. Grzeskowiak acknowl- edged that opening will pres- ent challenges, and there may be times when sections of the schools, or even an en- tire building, could be closed. But if the entire community works to limit the spread of the virus, the future will be positive. “This is one of those times that people really do need to band together,” Grzeskowiak said. The case against online Grzeskowiak’s case for re- opening the school district centered around quality of education. “The education kids are going to get in school is bet- ter than they’re going to get online,” he said. “Being in school and seeing teachers, aides, custodians, secretar- ies, nurses and bus drivers … that type of interaction with educators of every realm is better than being online, where there’s less ability to have meaningful contact with kids.” National studies have Shoppe LOCAL #MyFlorence Shop. Eat. Support. SAVE. SHOP shown that the shutdowns of the pandemic have put emo- tional stress on children, and severely disrupted their long- term educational track. Logistically, online learn- ing puts huge stresses on staff. “The teachers knocked themselves out,” Grzeskowiak said. “They were duplicating work. It takes even more time to take care of the distance kids.” When polled, parents have consistently asked for schools to reopen. “It’s an economic reality that public schools are de fac- to child care, simply because we have so many families where both parents work, or we have single parent fam- ilies, and they’re dependent upon school to do the child- care,” Grzeskowiak said. But on-site instruction has its own challenges, and the guidelines do lay out instanc- es where students will have to quarantine. first period in this class, and dents, they are asked to go there’s 20 people in that con- home for isolation and online tact group with you, I have to learning. keep track of the 20 kids in “It’s probably going to be 14 this class, and if you go and days, but it could be as short get ill by fourth period, I’m as 10, depending on how the worried about those kids too,” other child tests out,” Grz- Grzeskowiak said. eskowiak said. “Unvaccinated They then look into transi- people were getting tested at tory contacts. day 7, if they were negative, “Where did you go from and then resume day 10. But first to second period? Did right now, they haven’t been you go to the library, did you allowing that, simply because go to the nurses office,” Grz- in August we were running eskowiak said. “That’s what really heavy with the case we have to track down as count. If things start lighten- contact outside of your atten- ing up, that could change.” dance group.” For the student with Depending on a student’s COVID, a minimum of two schedule, direct contact could weeks isolation is required, be as small as one elementary allowed back only if their classroom, or as large as mul- symptoms and fever have tiple high school classes. gone for a 24 hour period, They would then contact which can be difficult. everyone and give a gener- “You had homes where kids al notice that they may have really couldn’t isolate from been exposed, though not all each other, and you had this of them will be isolated. series of infections at home,” “(It’s) not just the COVID Grzeskowiak said. “It went outbreak, but the Monday from sibling to parent, sibling panic,” Grzeskowiak said. to parent, sibling to sibling. Contact Tracing “That’s when you get the And you wound up with the Potential outbreaks gener- mass exodus because one kid rotating infection. One kid ally begin with a small cluster got sick.” may have gotten it twice, and of people on a weekend, “vac- then it goes back around. cinated and unvaccinated, Close contact students People are doing their best to masked and sometimes un- The district begins to parse isolate at home or with each masked, in which everybody out students who were in di- other, or sometimes put a kid thinks they’re fine,” Grzesko- rect contact, who would have out in a trailer. It’s hard to do wiak said, recalling conver- to be around the student for that. It’s really difficult.” sations he’s had with Lane 15 minutes or more at a dis- The district is no stranger County. “What someone in tance of 6 feet or less. to these scenarios. there doesn’t know is that Not all students in a class- they had contact four or five room would fit that criteria, The greater impact days ago with someone who but for those that do, “They “We had two exposure in- did have it.” would get a phone call saying, cidents on campus in spring, They unknowingly spread ‘Hey, you are considered to be but because we made sure we it at the gathering of friends, a close contact of somebody had distance and masks and who in turn infects their chil- that was a known positive,” regular sanitation, we didn’t dren when they go home. On Grzeskowiak said. get any on campus transmis- Monday, the child goes to There are different out- sion related to those events,” school. comes for each student. Grzeskowiak said. “Every time you sign your “People who are vaccinat- As for this year, small inci- student into school, you ed don’t necessarily isolate, dents have already occurred. are agreeing to the fact that as long as they were masked A Siuslaw Elementary educa- they’re not ill, and that they during the entire period,” tor tested positive for COVID don’t have a fever,” Grzesko- Grzeskowiak said. “They in late August. Then, on Sept. wiak said. would just monitor for any 9, the school district an- But sometimes symptoms symptoms. They would have nounced that there was a sep- don’t present until later in a a test between days three arate positive COVID case at day, or a parent just thinks and five. If it’s negative, they the elementary, which led to their child has allergies or a would just continue monitor- the district notifying multi- small cold. Sometimes the ing symptoms through two ple close contacts, including kids even fake being well. weeks.” some people at Siuslaw Mid- “We’ve had this happen For the unvaccinated stu- dle. in the past, pre-pandemic,” Grzeskowiak said. “Some- Drift wood Shores is off ering competitive thing really cool was going to wages for Housekeepers, Front desk, happen that day so they fake Restaurant, and Banquet staff . Full time being well to come to school, and then by nine o’clock or part time positions available. Stop by they’re throwing up in their the front desk at the hotel and pick up an chair.” application or visit our face book page at Whatever the reason, they Drift woodShores.com. get past the health screen- ing, where they will be met with some barriers to stop the spread. Masks will be required as the school year starts, and social distancing of three feet will be enforced. “Classrooms that have ta- Drift wood Shores bles have acrylic barriers on the tables,” Grzeskowiak said. 88416 1st Avenue, Florence “The air flow units for HVAC have been updated. It injects ions into the airflow, and any sort of bacteria or virus in the airstream, it disrupts the protein coding and basically annihilates it. We’re going to have the environment as safe as possible.” The student is fine for the Brian Jagoe first three periods, but by the Principal Broker fourth period, symptoms are becoming unbearable. They 541 999-1314 91781 Deadwood Creek Rd – Late 1800s School House, bring your skills and restore this see a nurse. treasure. Several studio out buildings to use for “We put them in isolation, friends, family or art studios. Enjoy the landing give them a rapid test,” said or hot tub alongside the creek that fl ows by the Grzeskowiak. house and one of the cabins. $260,000. #3169- 20121086 If they test positive, con- tracting tracing begins. 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 “If you’re the person in But the period of concern does have an end date. “By November and De- cember, according to the FDA, kids will be allowed to be vaccinated,” Grzeskowiak said. While he did not have ac- tual vaccine numbers for the 12-years-old and older stu- dents who are eligible now for the vaccine, he was able to report that the pre-COVID vaccination rates for diseases like measles hovered between 95 and 98 percent. As for the possibility of an actual outbreak at the school, Grzeskowiak believes it will be low or non-existent, as it was this spring. “There are schools that are operating without masks that have mass outbreaks, or where somebody that is known to be positive comes into school, and that’s where outbreaks are happening,” Grzeskowiak said. “We’re not going to go into a situation where we’re just going to let it spread. We’re going to make sure that we pull back and go online for a bit to get that in control.” But the veracity of the Del- ta virus, which spreads rapid- ly and to more people, com- plicates the issue. “You’ve got COVID run- ning around and maybe this building or grade level has to close out for 14 days, along with an outbreak. That’s the big issue,” Grzeskowi- Get Results...List With Wendy. Wendy Krause Broker 541 999-7765 Bellevue Drive #7 – Build your dream home in Heceta Dunes, a gated com- munity of 7 beautiful 5+ acre lots, just a mile north of Florence. 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That’s where you lose time, and what we don’t want to do.” The higher the number of those in isolation, the greater the impact on the communi- ty’s economy. In addition, multiple stu- dents are employed at local businesses, and in some cas- es have made up the majority of employees. District guide- lines also recommend family members be isolated during these periods as well, which could mean a greater drain on the workforce. For parents that wouldn’t need isolation, they’d be faced with the issue of child- care, which in turn also af- fects employment. “You don’t want to shut down whatever establish- ment you’re working at,” Grzeskowiak said. “I know there’s been a lot of business- es that have unfortunately been through that. It would be horrible enough to have employees home because their children are out of school, but they can’t operate if all their employees are sick. A lot of employers got really creative last year, allowing a lot of flexibility. 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