Despite rise in positive cases, Cloquet schools won't change learning styles yet

Although positive Covid cases in Carlton County are rising rapidly, Cloquet schools plan to stay the course for at least another week. On Thursday, the number of positive Covid cases in the county crossed the 20 per 10,000 mark -- the point at which the state recommends a shift to hybrid learning at the elementary school levels -- but Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary says the schools will remain in hybrid learning for grades 7-12 and in-person learning for grades K-6. New numbers are released every Thursday. District officials advised parents to start making plans for hybrid learning: in Cloquet that means one day in school followed by two days of distance learning for students. Read the entire text of the email below:

********* SCHOOL DISTRICT EMAIL sent Friday, Oct. 30 *************

Cloquet Public Schools will stay full in-person instruction for grades K-6 and hybrid for grades 7-12 for the week of November 2nd. We will continue to monitor COVID case rates from week-to-week to determine if a model change is necessary. We strongly urge elementary families to begin to plan childcare arrangements as a transition to hybrid in the near future is likely. For more information, please read the message below.

The Carlton County COVID-19 case rate increased this week to 20.54 cases per 10,000 county residents. This marks the first time the rate has gone above 20 cases per 10,000. According to the Minnesota Safe Learning Plan guidelines, this case rate triggers a review of whether to keep our K-6 grades students in-person or switch to a hybrid model. Recently, the Minnesota Department of Education released an update to schools reinforcing the case rate numbers are meant to serve as a guide and not a definitive measure of when a model change is appropriate. The MDE stated the local context in the community and within schools should also be carefully considered when deciding to make a model change or to keep the existing model in place.

In Carlton County, our county case rate numbers have hovered very near the border of the guideline for considering moving our K-6 students to a hybrid model. That said, our case numbers in our elementary schools have remained low and we’ve seen no evidence of COVID transmission in our schools or within any school in Carlton County. Our evidence suggests that our staff are taking precautions seriously and they are working. In communication with Carlton County Public Health officials, the spread of COVID in our county is largely due to social and family gatherings where precautions are less likely to be followed.

Our goal in Cloquet Public Schools is to provide a safe environment for students and staff and provide the highest quality education to our students. Our recent education evidence is showing students are at higher risk of falling behind when not in school in person. This, coupled with our low COVID numbers in schools and lack of transmission, leads us to strongly consider keeping in-person instruction in place if our county case rates stay near the guidelines. This includes situations where we may have numbers slightly above the current guidelines.

Please know that the decision to keep schools in a less restrictive model was reviewed with our local health officials.

Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect the correct grades for secondary and elementary students.