The Reno Gazette Journal is covering all angles of the process to reopen Washoe County schools, UNR and TMCC amid the coronavirus pandemic. This story is also part of the Reno Gazette Journal’s essential back-to -school COVID-19 coverage. Please consider subscribing to the RGJ to support our work.  

WCSD Superintendent wants more answers on COVID-19

Friday 4 p.m. update

Washoe County School District Superintendent Kristen McNeill said she still has more questions for health experts before she makes a recommendation about what should happen for the upcoming school year.

The school board could vote on Tuesday to change the district’s plan to have elementary students return to school and a hybrid model of in-person and distance learning for middle and high schoolers.  The model was approved by the school board and the Nevada Department of Education earlier this month. 

But on Wednesday, Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick told top district officials he was recommending students not return to classrooms next month amid rising COVID-19 cases.  

“I will be providing my recommendations around particular areas, whether that is at an elementary model, whether that’s a smaller pod of students we would be able to have,” McNeill said.

She said the board has the discretion to do almost anything at its Tuesday meeting including calling for another meeting to make decisions on the upcoming school year. 

McNeill said the district will share survey results about how many students the district anticipates returning in the fall for in-person instruction or if students have decided on  full distance learning, home schooling or private school. 

The school board meeting is at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The Reno Gazette Journal will livestream the meeting and provide updates as decisions are made and discussed.  

Health district and doctor differ on WCSD’s elementary schools

Friday 2 p.m. 

Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick is standing by his view that all schools in Washoe County should not reopen for in-person instruction. Dick first made the announcement during a board of health meeting Thursday and told top leaders in the Washoe County School District his view in a private meeting Wednesday.

The Reno Gazette Journal reached out to Dick on Friday after Dr. Trudy Larson, a member of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s Medical Advisory Team and dean of the School of Community Health at the University of Nevada, Reno, said elementary schools should open because science shows it is safe and the benefit to reopening outweighs the risk.  

“My recommendation to not physically reopen our schools is based upon the elevated level of disease transmission that is currently occurring in Washoe County, and the desire to protect the health of our children, school staff, parents, family members and the entire community from accelerated spread of COVID-19,” Dick said in a statement sent to the Reno Gazette Journal.

“None of the countries that have successfully opened schools have had the elevated levels of transmission that are occurring here now.  A recent study from South Korea found that children under 10 are at much lower risk of COVID-19 transmission and are less likely to spread the virus. But it found households with younger children still did experience spread of disease to others within the household.”

He said there is still a risk even if the argument to reopen elementary schools comes with less risk of COVID-19 spread.

“There is still much that we don’t know about this disease, and evidence of reduced transmission by children is limited.” 

Nevada health expert says WCSD should open elementary schools

Friday 12:15 p.m.  

Although Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick said his opinion that schools should stay closed amid rising COVID-19 cases was supported by Dr. Trudy Larson, she says elementary schools should open. 

Larson, in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal on Monday and again on Friday, said she stands by her opinion that children in kindergarten through 5th grade should return to school next month. 

Dick has not immediately returned a request for comment.

Larson is on Gov. Steve Sisolak’s Medical Advisory Team, a group of five top doctors in the state who advise the governor on public health. Larson is also dean of the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno.

She said last week the team spent a “really intense” two hours talking with schools and Nevada public health officials, walking through the science.

“The science is pretty convincing that children are really not transmitters at all. Totally unlike influenza. With influenza, kids are transmitters,” Larson said.

With COVID-19, Larson said, it does not appear children are transmitters. Now the literature is starting to come out with these studies showing children don’t transmit COVID-19 among themselves and they don’t transmit it to their parents when they come home.

Larson said she is comfortable with saying children can and should be in school with safety guidelines including masks, hand sanitizer and hand washing. 

Larson’s granddaughter has been in a preschool program, even as the state closed public schools, and there have been no problems, she said. 

“It is evidence-based and science that getting kids back in school is based on a risk-benefit ratio,” she said. “There are benefits that outweigh the risks.”

She said she thinks parents have the right to make the decision to return to school or to keep their children home.

She said the data that Dick shared is based on adults and is a good metric on how the community is doing in the spread of coronavirus, but for kids the science shows they should return to school.

She said for middle and high schoolers, there is more of a risk and the focus should be on making sure they have access to technology to continue distance learning. She said for students at risk, including those with disabilities, the district should look at having students in large spaces such as gyms or something like a convention center, so they still have access to education.  

“High school and up, we treat them as adults,” Larson said, “because their transmission rates go way up.”  

Dr. Brian Labus — an associate professor at UNLV’s School of Public Health who is also on Sisolak’s Medical Advisory Team — said on Monday in an interview with the RGJ that schools in Nevada can reopen.

“We can open,” he said. “We can’t just open without working on things to prevent disease transmission.”

 He said schools in the state have had months to prepare to open and to set up systems for everyone to remain safe.  

Washoe County Health District recommends WCSD not open

Thursday

Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick has recommended that Washoe County schools do not reopen next month because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. 

“Due to the risk of infection, the upward trend in new cases since July 12 and criteria set at the state and federal level, distance learning is the safest path forward at this time,” Dick said in a statement after he announced at a board of health meeting Thursday his views on schools remaining closed to students. 

Dick said Dr. Trudy Larson, a member of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s medical advisory team, agreed with his opinion. He informed district leaders of his opinion in a private meeting Wednesday.

“Based on the county tracking criteria the governor has established and the fact that we we are far exceeding that threshold as far as new cases per 100,000 over the last 14 days, and that we are continuing to see an increase in our new cases over the past couple of weeks, my recommendations is that they not reopen right now,” Dick said during a public board of health meeting Thursday. 

But, Dick said, “I have a public health perspective on this and this is a multifaceted decision the school board must make.” 

The decision is still up to the Washoe County School Board of Trustees, which will meet on Tuesday.

School Board President Malena Raymond and Superintendent Kristen McNeill issued a statement Thursday following Dick’s public announcement. The board and state have already approved a full-time return to schools for elementary students and a hybrid of in-person and distance education for middle and high schoolers. 

“Our highest priority at the Washoe County School District is the health and well-being of our 64,000 students and more than 8,000 staff members. As part of that commitment, we have worked in close partnership with the Washoe County Health District as we confront the challenges posed by COVID-19,” the statement said. 

“We encourage our community to watch the meeting online as trustees hear the presentation and discuss the recommendation,” the statement said.

Trustees will also hear from Dick at the meeting on Tuesday and could reverse the previous decision and decide to do a full distance learning plan, the statement said. 

The district has not responded to requests for an interview with McNeill about what she will recommend to the board about the fall semester, set to start on Aug. 17. 

Earlier this week, unions representing Washoe County teachers, principals and support staff sent a letter to district leadership demanding distance-only education for the first nine weeks of the school year due to safety concerns. 

At a meeting this week, the Clark County School District announced it would start the school year online because of the safety risks of COVID-19. 

Washoe not meeting criteria for safe reopening 

Dick said his recommendations are based on two criteria: Nevada’s COVID-19 Elevated Disease Transmission Tracker for counties and the designation of Washoe County as a yellow zone by the White House Coronavirus Task Force. 

California is using similar criteria for determining if schools should reopen. 

The Governor’s Disease Transmission Tracker flags Nevada counties for elevated disease transmission if two of the three categories are met:

Average number of tests per day is fewer than 150 per 100,000 

Case rate is greater than 100 per 100,000 over last 14 days 

Case rate is greater than 25 per 100,000 and testing positivity is greater than 7 percent

Washoe County exceeds criteria for the second and third categories. Washoe County’s new case rate is 190.8 over the last 14 days, which is more than 90 cases over the 100-case threshold.

The White House Task Force recently put Washoe County in the “Yellow Zone” designation for COVID-19 transmission and recommended further restrictions on gatherings to be no more than 25, which could be in conflict with WCSD class sizes.

Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal. 

Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal. 

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