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Monday, Tuesday are virtual learning days for K-12

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This Monday and Tuesday (November 23 and 24) are virtual learning days for K-12 students in Oak Ridge Schools.

Teachers are providing instruction from their classrooms to students, who are learning remotely from home. Building principals were expected to share details with families.

In a letter to families, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said elementary school students now have electronic devices and can use this opportunity to participate in true virtual learning.

Preschool students are continuing with their current schedule this week and are meeting in person on Monday, November 23, and Tuesday, November 24.

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Oak Ridge Schools reports 11 COVID cases in one day

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 16 started Wednesday, Nov. 11, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge Schools reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a record high.

That’s almost as many cases reported in one day as has been reported in each of the previous two weeks. Twelve cases were reported in each of the last two weeks.

Twenty-three new cases have been reported since Wednesday, according to an Oak Ridge Today tally.

With the new cases, the school system has reported 56 cases of COVID-19 since October 21. The surge started after fall break, although it’s not clear if the two events are connected.

The new cases reported Friday included four students at Oak Ridge High School, three students at Jefferson Middle School, three students at Robertsville Middle School, and a staff member at Woodland Elementary School.

Recently, the most cases, 11, have been reported among Jefferson Middle School students. Those 11 cases were reported in nine days, since Thursday, November 5.

In that same time, the second-highest number of cases, nine, were reported among Robertsville Middle School students.

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Middle schools returning to alternating schedules

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Starting Monday, middle school students who attend classes in person will return to the alternating schedules used earlier this year, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a letter to families and staff members on Friday.

The transition back to alternating schedules is due to an increase in the number of students being quarantined, Borchers said. Quarantined students cannot attend school at all for face-to-face instruction, he said.

“We realized that bringing all middle school students together had the potential to increase the number of students we would be sending home to quarantine when a single peer tests positive for COVID-19,” Borchers said. “Due to the increase in the number of students being quarantined, it is our plan to transition back to the alternating A/B schedule effective Monday, November 16, 2020.”

Most students at the middle schools and high school had started the school year with staggered schedules. A minority of students selected an online-only option.

Using the staggered schedules, some students have attended classes on Mondays and Thursdays, and others have attended on Tuesdays and Fridays. Students have then had online classes the other three days.

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COVID surge continues among students

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020, and continuing through Tuesday, Nov. 10. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

The COVID-19 surge that started among students and staff members at Oak Ridge Schools three weeks ago continued in the school week that ended Tuesday, with the highest number of recent cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students.

There have been five COVID-19 cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students since Thursday. That’s close to half of the cases reported in Oak Ridge Schools in the past week.

There have been two student cases reported at Robertsville Middle School since Thursday and one student and one staff member case reported at Oak Ridge High School.

A total of 12 cases were reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools in the school week between last Wednesday and this Tuesday. That matched the total of 12 cases in the previous week. There were nine cases the week before. That’s a total of 33 cases in the past three weeks, or 11 per week on average.

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COVID cases surge among school students, staff

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 15 started Wednesday, Nov. 4, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported among students and staff members surged in Oak Ridge Schools during the past three weeks.

There have been 27 cases reported since October 15. That’s an average of nine new cases per week during a three-week period.

It’s about triple the average number of new cases reported during the previous high period in August, when roughly 3.3 new cases were reported per week during a three-week period.

The increase in new cases in the school system has occurred as the number of new cases has also risen significantly in Anderson County and Tennessee, surpassing the July peak.

The 27 cases reported in the past three weeks in Oak Ridge Schools represents about 57 percent of the total 47 cases reported since the school year started July 29.

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Three more COVID cases reported among students

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Three more COVID-19 cases were reported among Oak Ridge Schools students on Wednesday and Thursday. Two were at Oak Ridge High School, and one was at Woodland Elementary School. There have 13 cases among students since Friday and eight cases among ORHS students in the past week.

The surge in cases among students has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to in-person classes five days per week starting Monday. Student cases were reported almost every day this past week, with the number of cases ranging between one and four. That is a higher number of cases per day than at any other time this school year.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools have been due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive. Also on Wednesday, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Health Policy in Nashville said major clusters of COVID-19 have not been traced to school transmission.

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Ten COVID cases reported among students since Friday

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. We have defined weeks as Wednesday-Tuesday. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Ten COVID-19 cases have been reported among students in Oak Ridge Schools since Friday. That’s the highest number of cases reported in any seven-day period so far this school year.

The 10 new student cases were reported between Friday and Wednesday. Six of the cases were reported among students at Oak Ridge High School. It’s not clear yet if the surge is an anomaly or part of a trend.

There are currently 46 students and five staff members who are not allowed to attend school because they have been in close contact with someone at school who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in response to questions Wednesday.

The surge in new cases has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to classes five days per week starting Monday.

Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools were due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive.

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Updated: Twenty-eight COVID-19 cases reported among students, schools staff

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Twenty-seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Oak Ridge Schools student and staff members, according to data posted by the school system. Note: One new case affecting an ORHS student was reported Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2020, bringing the total to 28. (Chart by Oak Ridge Schools)

Note: This story was updated with a new case at ORHS at 5:15 p.m.

Twenty-eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools this school year, and six of those are current cases, according to data published by the school system.

The majority of the cases, 23 of the 28, have been among students. The most cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, with nine student cases and two staff cases, or 11 total.

Jefferson Middle School has had the second-highest total of cases, with five student cases and two staff cases, or seven total.

No cases have been reported at Linden Elementary School, Secret City Academy, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

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After break, schools will continue mix of in-person, staggered schedules

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Bruce Borchers
Bruce Borchers

After fall break, Oak Ridge Schools will continue using in-person instruction for students from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade and staggered schedules for students in fifth grade to 12th grade, Superintendent Bruce Borchers said Tuesday.

The younger students have five days of in-person instruction per week, while the older students have staggered schedules: two days of in-person instruction and three days of online learning per week.

In a letter to staff members and families on Tuesday, Borchers said school staff and students have kept the spread of COVID-19 low during the first term using contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; practicing good personal hygiene such as hand washing; maintaining physical distances and wearing face masks; and providing or being able to use hand sanitizing stations and clean facilities.

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Updated: ORHS principal leaving Oak Ridge, going to Greeneville

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Note: This story was updated at 10:20 a.m. Sept. 17.

Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he is leaving his job at ORHS and starting a new job at Greeneville High School in East Tennessee.

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said McDonald will continue at ORHS through the end of the first term and will transition to his new role in Greeneville during the first weeks of October.

Neither McDonald nor Oak Ridge Schools said why the principal is leaving Oak Ridge.

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Second COVID-19 case reported at Glenwood

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Glenwood-Elementary-School
Glenwood Elementary School in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

A second person at Glenwood Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools said Sunday. It’s the second case reported at the school on Sunday.

The person involved in the second case was last at the school on Wednesday, according to a letter to families from Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers. The school system learned of the positive test this weekend, he said.

Students and staff members who were potentially exposed have all been notified, and they will quarantine in accordance with Tennessee Department of Health guidelines, Borchers said.

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Person at Glenwood tests positive for COVID-19

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Glenwood-Elementary-School
Glenwood Elementary School in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

A person at Glenwood Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools said Sunday.

The person was last at the school on Thursday, according to a letter to families from Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers. The school system learned of the positive test this weekend, he said.

Students and staff members who were potentially exposed have all been notified, and they will quarantine in accordance with Tennessee Department of Health guidelines, Borchers said.

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