Warren County School District will go to a full-virtual formal starting Wednesday.

At Monday’s meeting, the school board voted six-to-three in favor of a recommendation by Superintendent Amy Stewart.

The schools will be shut down, for the great majority of students, through at least Monday, Jan. 25.

There were about 150 people in virtual attendance at the beginning of the meeting. That number rose to 230 by the end.

A teacher and the teachers union president expressed their concerns about continuing with in-person education. Board members echoed those concerns.

They found no opposition within the administration or among the other board members.

“Everybody has told us it’s only a matter of time,” Stewart said. “We’ve said all along it would only be a matter of time when we could no longer function… that this day would be coming.”

She said there have been cases in the district, including one on the first day of school, but she said administrators did not expect the number of students in quarantine or isolation to be the greatest limitation on the district. “It would not be because kids are becoming sick… it’s a matter of not having enough staff,” she said. “That is exactly where we are.”

Warren County has experienced a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

“I believe that now is the time,” Stewart said. “Yesterday, we probably knew. We admitted it to ourselves. It is time to take a break.”

“I think we need to get past this big peak,” she said. “Tomorrow (Tuesday), kids are going to go to school. They’re going to pack up. Virtual learning will start on Wednesday.”

She said returning immediately following the Christmas break didn’t make sense to her because of the likelihood that there would be a spike in cases similar to the one that followed Thanksgiving.

There may be some students who will return to the buildings next week.

The board and administrators discussed special cases including students in life-skills and other special education programs, the hands-on emphasis of programming at Warren County Career Center, and the 21 percent of students in the district who are not in a position to have adequate internet access or bandwidth at home. No decisions regarding those possibilities were made on Monday.

Stewart said changing to full-virtual instruction voluntarily left those kinds of situations – and the possibility of athletics – up to the district.

“If we wait longer this week, we may be in a position where we are forced to close,” she said. “Athletics are very important to people. If we are forced to close, we will lose our athletic opportunities. If we choose to close, we will be able to make our own decisions. We will be able to make decisions to bring in those students who don’t have access.”

If groups of students are admitted to the schools, transportation and meals will be provided. The district will continue to provide meals to students who are attending virtually, as well, even though that number will be much higher starting Wednesday.

Stewart has the authority to shut down those exceptions and athletics at any time. “I want to assure the board, we’re not going to allow a bad situation to happen,” she said. “We’ll make the right decisions at the right time.”

No board members argued in favor of keeping the buildings open. Board members Joe Colosimo, Elizabeth Huffman, and Mary Passinger voted against the motion. During discussion, all three indicated that they were in favor of shutting down, but expressed concerns about leaving open the possibility of even a very limited number of students and teachers having to interact in the buildings.

TCCS

Tidioute Community Charter School CEO Doug Allen said Monday that a decision regarding the possibility of going remote there would be made after the board of trustees has an informal discussion with him at 3 p.m. Tuesday.