State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick is acknowledging school officials’ desire for more COVID-19 guidance but says she’s simply following the advice of medical professionals. McCormick addressed the question of whether or not schools should be open, during a virtual media briefing Thursday.
“That is a question that is best suited for medical experts,” she said. “I mean, for me to sit and say who should be open, when they should be open, should they be closed, based on what I have been told from our medical experts, we are good to go, with provisions. But if that changes, we certainly will support that change and help schools shut it down and get to that remote option.”
She said the Indiana Department of Education has been trying to help local school officials who’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of medical information. “They were trying to follow CDC’s moving guidance that was very fluid and sometimes nonsensical and still are trying to do that,” McCormick said. “And then you also have the health department from the state weighing in, the local health departments weighing in, the IHSAA with part of us weighing in.”
McCormick said the IN-CLASS reentry document was released in June to put all that information in one place. But since then, she said her department has had a hard time keeping up with all of the changes and is now simply directing local schools to go to the Indiana State Department of Health’s website for the latest medical guidelines.
One recent adjustment is allowing students to remove their masks in the classroom, even if they’re only three feet away from each other. “There was a lot of guidance that was ‘six feet,’ ‘six feet,’ ‘six feet,’ and as we looked at that, we’re like, ‘We’re not going to school. If it’s six feet, we’re not going to school,’” McCormick said. “Well then, guidance came out from different entities that said three to six feet. So then we were seeing a three-to-six-feet shuffle from the feds, we were looking at our guidance that we were going to follow. The American Academy of Pediatrics also had put some things out about now more of a three feet. So we’re following the guidance that is medical and science in nature. If that is incorrect, I am not one to question that.”
McCormick also acknowledged that a specific threshold for when schools should be open or not based on positivity rates, would be helpful for schools and families. “We’re told what to do with measles. I’m told what to do with lice. I’m told what to do with concussions. For me to think I’m not going to be told what to do during a pandemic would be ridiculous on my part as an educator. So we understand the role the medical folks play in this. I also understand, too, there are a lot of moving parts to this.”
She said she understands why health officials are reluctant to provide a specific number, but many superintendents are still asking for one.
