White Co Schools COVID Numbers Low, Not Requesting Remote Learning

White County Schools will not apply for remote learning days at this time as COVID numbers remain manageable.

That is according to School Director Kurt Dronebarger. Dronebarger said as of Wednesday, the district has a infection rate less than four percent.

“We use a scale kind of like a traffic light red, yellow and green, and we are all green as a district right now,” Dronebarger said. “It’s really low right now in our elementary schools and our middle school is not too bad. Our high school is probably the highest, but still not an area where we would consider closure.”

Dronebarger said the district would consider requesting for remote settings when in-person learning becomes unproductive. Dronebarger said staffing and the number of students in a classroom would play a role.

“It just gets to a point where learning becomes unproductive,” Dronebarger said. “You don’t have enough bus drivers. You don’t have enough cooks or custodians. Sometimes you don’t have enough students in a class. When it gets to a point that you’re doing more harm and good, that’s when it comes.”

Dronebarger said the system does have a plan in the event a remote waiver is submitted and approved. Dronebarger said only specific schools would shut down for at most five days.

“Those students would be assigned Chromebooks,” Dronebarger said. “Teachers would come in and teach live instruction, and it would be videoed for those that couldn’t attend live. There would be office hours for students to call in and get help, and also, paper work available for those that might not have good connectivity.”