Zionsville Community Schools officials announced Nov. 11 the school district’s middle school and high school students who opted to attend in-person classes would revert back to a hybrid schedule beginning Nov. 16.
The shift comes after Boone County has reported record-high single-week COVID-19 case totals for four straight weeks and after Indiana reported the same for five straight weeks. As of Nov. 13, the school had adopted a five-day, in-person schedule at the middle school and high school level for 30 days. ZCS Supt. Scott Robison said during a taped announcement to ZCS families that the school district had decided to announce a shift away from its current model, toward a hybrid model, on Nov. 11 regardless of Indiana Gov. Holcomb’s same-day announcement of stricter social gathering limitation’s in the state.
ZCS in-person middle school and high school students will return to the same hybrid schedule the school district adopted at the start of the school year. All in-person students will participate in distance learning on Mondays and the following four school days will allow students in two separate cohorts to attend in-person classes two days of the week on separate days. The school district’s elementary schools will continue to hold in-person classes five days a week, and students that have exclusively opted for distance learning will still be afforded that option.
ZCS officials said as of Nov. 11, the school district had reported 43 active COVID-19 cases, 35 of which were students. On Nov. 11, 981 ZCS-affiliated people – students, employees, administrators – were unable to attend the school district’s schools, most of which were due to quarantines related to parent cases or activities that took place outside of classrooms, ZCS officials said.
ZCS officials have maintained the spread of the new coronavirus in classrooms has been limited.
“If you have anyone who is symptomatic in the home; if you have a pending test result in the home, please consult with our nurses at the buildings so that we can help provide guidance,” ZCS Assistant Supt. for Operations Rebecca Coffman said to ZCS families in a taped message.
The hybrid model is set to last through the end of the semester, Robison said, and more updates on the school district’s plans for the next semester are expected in coming weeks.
“Let’s please just do this together and be smart so that we can assist in flattening the curve once again and getting through these months that are coming as successfully as possible,” Robison said.
