Governor declares Hamilton County & Clermont County COVID “RED” zones

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (October 2, 2020) – In a message labeled “Urgent School Schedule Update” sent out before noon today, the Loveland City School District announced a “temporarty pause” in any changes to the current blended learning model for all students due to the declaration of Hamilton County & Clermont County as “Red Levels” on the Public Health Advisory System.

The message released close to 11:30 a.m. this morning (Friday, October 2, 2020) states this temporary pause will allow school officials time to evaluate the situation. Originally, the plan to return to full capacity/5-day learning mode was set to begin with PK-4 students Monday, October 5. That is not going to happen now. They will NOT return to full in-person learning on Monday, October 5. 

Additionally, there will be NO CHANGES in trandsportation at any grade level, including grades 5-8 as was communicated earlier this week. Transportation will operate the same next week as it did this week. A couple other key points of information were shared in the message as well stating this is NOT the right time to take steps toward bringing more students together. School officials will wait until after the state updates their COVID-19 data next Thursday, October 8, before making any decsion regarding plans to return to full in-person learning for PK-4 and grades 5-8 (originally scheduled for Monday, October 12) or remaining on blended learning plan. 

NOTE: Loveland Beacon has reached out to LCSD Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse for additional comment. She is currently in discussions on the matter with the Board. Her comment will follow later.

UPDATE 1:20 P.M. Friday, October 2, 2020 – Here now is the comment from Superintendent Crouse: “Decisions are not based on any single factor,” said Crouse. “It did not seem prudent to increase capacity , however with Hamilton and Clermont Counties moving back into the red category on the alert system. We will continue to evaluate the return to full capacity next week.” 

Here is full text of the original statement released this monring: