Greenwood schools will be the first in the county to have a districtwide mask mandate at all of its schools starting today.
School leaders made the decision, which was sent to parents in an email Monday, after Johnson County moved back to “orange,” according to the state’s color-coded metrics. “Orange” is the second-highest risk category based on community spread and positivity rate.
The rolling average of daily positive cases in the county was up to 78 on Tuesday, 16 times the three a day average seen in early July. The county’s positivity rate is at 10.5%, the highest it has been since January.
At Greenwood schools, the goal of the mask mandate is to keep school in person, Superintendent Terry Terhune said in the email to parents.
“The decision was made with an abundance of caution for the safety of our school community,” Terhune said. “The current guidance from health officials states mask wearing within the school setting may mitigate the number of quarantined students. Greenwood schools has always believed in-person learning is best for our students. In order for us to maintain this manner of instruction for all students, we believe that a short-term requirement to wear masks is necessary at this time.”
School officials will reevaluate the mask mandate during the Labor Day break next month, he said.
Two of six local districts have mask policies in place.
On Monday, Clark-Pleasant schools instituted a mask mandate at Break-O-Day Elementary School and Clark-Pleasant Middle School due to more than 2% of the student populations at the schools testing positive for COVID-19 and being out of school — a threshold the Johnson County Health Department is recommending schools follow.
Masks will become optional again if, after 10 days, less than 1% of the student population is out of school with COVID-19, Superintendent Patrick Spray said in an email.
A districtwide mask mandate was already in place for staff at Clark-Pleasant schools while they’re in classrooms or other congregate indoor settings.
A vaccination clinic is planned from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Clark-Pleasant’s administration building, 50 Center Street, Whiteland, said Betsy Swearingen, Johnson County Health Department director.
As of Tuesday, no other local districts had schools with more than 2% of students out due to a positive COVID-19 test, said Dr. Jefferson Qualls, Johnson County health officer.
While the school year started with an all-or-nothing approach to mask mandates, that strategy is no longer feasible, as schools have differing levels of spread, Qualls said.
“The one-size-fits-all model we tried to go with from day one is no longer working,” he said. “At this point, we think most of the spread of disease has been community related. We’re trying to be proactive to not have transmission within schools.”
Other local districts have not said whether they will follow the county health department’s 2% recommendation.
Indian Creek schools will likely base its decisions on the absenteeism rate rather than the number of students who test positive for the virus.
On Tuesday, 5% of students were absent from school due to positive COVID-19 tests or quarantine. At 20%, the state requires schools to go virtual, Superintendent Tim Edsell said.
“At that point, we would consider looking at what we could do to make (school) safer,” Edsell said.
Franklin schools didn’t commit to following the 2% recommendation either. Superintendent David Clendening said in a statement he is reviewing the county health department’s guidance.
“(Franklin schools) is monitoring the district’s data and is in continuous conversation with Dr. Qualls,” Clendening said. “We are reviewing the guidance from the Johnson County Health Department and will share any procedural changes immediately.”
