Clear Lake schools report good start battling COVID

(Above) Fourth grade teacher Melanie Marrell shares her lessons in person and virtually.  In school, students must wear masks unless distanced.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake School District has completed one month of classes with little impact from the COVID-19 virus which ended the 2019-20 school year in March and threatened the return of students to the classroom this fall.

“Things are going very well.  Our teachers are doing a great job and working harder than they have ever had to work.  Our three nurses are fantastic and doing a great job keeping track of everything and doing the contact tracing. Our custodians are doing their best to ensure things are cleaned and sanitized, they are spraying the entire building every night.  We are really blessed to have the staff we have,” said Superintendent Doug Gee.

Students and parents are also an important part of the equation, he noted.

“Our students are doing amazing; they are wearing their masks and practicing social distancing, washing their hands.  Our parents have been super supportive.  Even when we do have students going home for quarantine, they are still able to get on Zoom and be in the class virtually.”

While he declined, on the recommendation of the Iowa Department of Education, to report the number of student and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, Gee did share the percentage of students that have been either sent home or kept home because they were either in close contact or had COVID-19 symptoms.

During the first week of school, beginning Aug. 24, the district had 1.2 percent of students absent for either symptoms or

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close contact with a positive case.  That number remained the same for the week of Aug. 31.  During the week of Sept. 7, that number rose to 2.2 percent of students absent for either symptoms or close contact with a positive case.

“We have not had a single student test positive and less than five staff members test positive,” Gee said on Sept. 18.

Brandon Borseth, assistant principal at Clear Creek Elementary School, said when the school year began roughly 10 percent of elementary students chose to participate in virtual learning.  As the weeks have passed, that number has declined, he said.

“I think as some have seen how we are handling things they are feeling more comfortable with sending their children to school,” said Borseth.

“Most parents and students are happy to be back in school, but we’re living in fear of getting COVID.  The kids know all about it, they listen to the media and hear the numbers,” said fourth grade teacher Shawn Puttmann, who has been teaching for 22 years.  “The hardest thing to get used to through all of this is wearing the masks and the constant cleaning and disinfecting.”

Borseth noted the school district is strictly following health guidelines from CG Public Health.

“It’s been a great start to the year considering all the circumstances,” said Patty Mueller, an eighth grade teacher.  “The kids have adjusted well and are so excited to be back in school.  Teachers have been working hard to adjust to the changes.”

Sixth grade teacher Shelly Adams agreed, saying “We have had positive leadership at the Middle School.  It’s as safe here as they can make it for the students while keeping them in a learning environment.  The most challenging has been wearing masks all day.”

Borseth said the most challenging and sometime frustrating part of the day for students isn’t the class time, it’s lunch and recess.

Classes are kept separate on the playground, to make tracing and disinfecting easier.  At lunch time, half of a class will go to the lunch room, while the other half eat boxed lunches in their classroom.

“We are keeping things more like a family grouping, rather than putting everyone together.  We are putting ourselves in the best possible position for success,” said Borseth.

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