photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World Illustration
Douglas County’s school virus guidance will remain at its lowest tier for the third straight week as new cases of COVID-19 continue to fall.
On Thursday, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced that its guidance to schools would stay in the green tier, which recommends that schools use fully in-person classes. The color-coded guidance is meant to help county school districts navigate reopening schools and conducting activities.
Both the 14-day average positivity rate and the 14-day average number of new cases per day have fallen in the last week. According to the health department’s data, the positivity rate fell from 4.1% last week to 3.4% this week, while the average number of new cases per day fell from 18 to about 12. Additionally, the number of active cases in the community has fallen by more than 100 since last week, to 391.
Douglas County’s school virus guidance will remain at its lowest tier for the second straight week as new cases of COVID-19 continue to fall. On Thursday, La
photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World Illustration
Working a full-time job from home during the coronavirus pandemic is hard enough for Lawrence resident Ellie Heath.
But trying to make sure her elementary-aged children are staying engaged with their learning while they attend school from home half the week has only added to the stress and anxiety she is facing.
Heath, a parent of two children who attend Langston Hughes Elementary School, told the Journal-World that she is constantly splitting her attention between her work and her son’s kindergarten classes to make sure he is participating in his lessons, while she has largely left her third-grade daughter to her own devices.
A Lawrence police car is seen parked in front of Lawrence High School in 2014.
The Lawrence school district’s use of police officers in schools aligns with a recent report of a state racial justice commission, Superintendent Anthony Lewis told the Journal-World recently.
That’s partly because the district only uses a handful of school resource officers, or SROs, while it also employs dozens of behavioral health professionals, he said.
In December, Gov. Laura Kelly’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice provided its initial report, giving many recommendations to improve racial equity in different aspects of the state’s criminal justice system.
Lawrence s high school students will begin attending in-person classes more often next month, school board members heard at their meeting on Monday. Lawrence S