High Schools to allow small groups of students to return as data tracking continues
(New Orleans – January 27, 2021) – After monitoring declining trends in the state, local and school-based data used to track the impact of COVID-19 in New Orleans, and in consultation with health officials and our medical advisors, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) announced today that elementary and middle schools can return to in-person learning on Monday, Feb. 1.
"I am pleased to see our metrics continue to trend in the right direction," NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. said. "I want to thank our parents, teachers, staff and students for their perseverance in these challenging times. I would also like to thank New Orleans residents and businesses because without your willingness to mask up, stay socially distanced, and limit interactions with each other, we would not have the option we have today to move our youngest learners back where they belong: in the classroom face-to-face with their teachers and side-by-side with their friends."
Dr. Lewis and his team will continue to monitor the data trends with the hope to return high school students – grades 9 through 12 – to their hybrid model of learning starting Feb. 22, after the Mardi Gras break. Meanwhile, high schools will be allowed Monday to provide in-person learning to small groups of students – 15 or fewer – who may benefit the most from classroom instruction. These include students such as those with special education needs, those who are habitually disengaged, among others that school leadership may deem eligible for this instruction method.
NOLA-PS, alongside city health officials and our medical advisors, tracks several metrics to ensure its approach to decision-making continues to be measured and data-driven. Important trends, such as those in positive test rates and new daily case counts, have steadily declined or stabilized since spiking at the start of January. The positive test rate trend in New Orleans Wednesday, Jan. 27, was approximately 3 percent and the trending daily new case count was at 140 – down from a peak of 266 on Jan. 8.
Considering these along with other metrics, including ample access to testing and a stabilization in the rate of hospitalizations, NOLA-PS informed school leaders Wednesday morning of the decision to allow schools to return to in-person learning.
Parents, guardians, students and school families are encouraged to contact their schools for site-specific details on reopening. NOLA-PS continues to provide ample access to testing through its partnerships with Ochsner and Children's hospitals and the City's community testing sites and encourages staff and students to continue to take advantage of these resources.
NOLA-PS has instructed schools to continue to follow the safety protocols laid out in the Roadmap to Reopening, including entranceway temperature checks, required mask wearing, ample access to hand sanitizer, social distancing and regular cleanings of classrooms and facilities. These efforts are a major reason schools are some of the safest places for children to be when community spread of the virus outside the classroom is moderate to low.
As we have since the beginning of the pandemic, NOLA-PS will continue to monitor these metrics and promises to remain in constant communication with school leaders and provide parents, staff, teachers and the public with regular updates. More information can be found at nolapublicschools.com.
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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.