Serious talks are being had in various states about children and COVID-19. Portlanders are also having conversations to include what to do about school and children. The district says returning to distance learning was a “last resort” move. About 90% of Portland Public Schools remain in in-person. PPS was having to close down schools not because of safety but rather because of staffing.
But it was not just in-person learning that was taking a hit, extracurricular activities were also canceled, and parents were not happy. But as of current, Jonathan Garcia, the chief of staff with PPS, said. “We are going to be reimplementing limited in-person activity in many of these schools,” “We’ll share a little bit more details, but that includes extracurricular activities like sports because the extracurriculars and the likes are crucial to our students.”On Monday, Garcia says 22% of the student body was absent and 390 educators were out. Garcia says PPS was unable to fill 160 of those educator roles, roughly 40%.
PPS decreased the quarantine time from 10 to 5 days in accordance with the CDC recommendations. This supposedly helped the staffing shortage that was forcing the schools to close, as teachers will be able to get back in class sooner.
Tuesday, quarantine is shorter for people exposed to or who have tested positive for COVID-19. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is advised to isolate at home for at least five days. If a fully vaccinated child or adult is exposed to someone with COVID-19, there is no quarantine required, though wearing a “well-fitting mask” is advised.
