We chose to move to Chesapeake specifically for the outstanding reputation of the public schools. After two of our children spent four years in the school system, we were not disappointed. Even through the unexpected shift to virtual learning in the Spring 2020, we were continually impressed with our children’s teachers and their ability to adapt quickly and effectively.
However, the July 6 Chesapeake School Board meeting exposed a severe lack of leadership and accountability, and it became apparent that division leaders, especially the School Board members, did not understand the significant implications of conducting in-person learning during a pandemic. That night, not one member of the school board asked questions regarding the implementation of safety protocols or mitigation measures to protect CPS students and staff. Clearly the importance of safety and the effects such new procedures would have on in-person learning were lost on them. This lack of understanding haunts them to this day as they still cannot commit to what COVID-19 metrics or case counts they deem safe or unsafe.
In the original plan presented by the superintendent’s staff over the summer, “traditional” (full time, in-person) learning would not occur until our positivity rate was less than 5% for those who chose Option 1 (the “on-campus continuum”). Yet, on Aug 31, with a 12% positivity rate, the superintendent changed course and decided to have all pre-K to third grade students move out of virtual learning and into a full five-day-per-week “traditional” school model beginning in September.
That announcement, which occurred four weeks after plans had been adopted by the School Board and options selected by parents and teachers, was our first indication that our superintendent had no intention of following any of the original proposals, and that the School Board had no intention of holding him accountable.
Since then, we have only seen more of the same. There has been no predictability or accountability in anything that CPS leaders have decided, because they have no plan.
Chesapeake Public Schools has operated far too long without providing the community a predictable method for shifts in the Option 1 “on-campus continuum.” Clearly, the dangerous rises in COVID-19 metrics indicate that some provocation is needed for Chesapeake residents to act more responsibly. Defining, based on community metrics, and adhering to specific criteria that determines when schools will move into and out of virtual learning will do just that.
Tell the community that there won’t be any in-person learning until our positivity rate stays below 10% (for “blended” learning) and 5% (for “traditional” learning) for at least two straight weeks, and I bet you’ll see more cautious behavior and, in turn, a steep decline in our community’s metrics, which we so desperately need.
Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department, and CPS superintendent Jared Cotton tout that COVID transmission is not happening in our schools so we need not worry about how high the COVID metrics are in Chesapeake. However, CPS currently has no COVID testing requirements: no testing after exposure, no testing after travel and no testing after presenting symptoms. So, in actuality, they truly don’t know if transmission is or is not occurring on campus. When so many pediatric cases of COVID are asymptomatic, you must have a robust testing program to identify all cases in order to reduce the spread in the community.
It is obvious that CPS does not want to set thresholds for shifts in the “on-campus continuum” because they want to avoid responsibility at all costs. The lack of COVID testing requirements compounds this truth. Accountability must start now.
Samantha Lester is the leader of Chesapeake Advocates for a Responsible Return to School, a group encouraging CPS to make safe and transparent decisions during the pandemic. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a commander in the Navy Reserve. The views expressed here are her own.
