Crown Point parents express concern regarding COVID-19 data delay amid omicron surge

Jan. 15—CROWN POINT — Natalie Huddleston Schantz has two students at the high school. Her son had COVID-19 symptoms and she got him tested Jan. 4. She did not receive results until Tuesday, which showed he tested positive.

By the time he received results, the school encouraged him to return. She sent him to classes Wednesday, but he was symptomatic again on Thursday.

She said he was initially marked absent for the days he missed as "excused — medical." However, it changed to "remote — present," and she is unsure why that occurred.

The district does say that students' needs will be met even while in quarantine, whether that is through email, Zoom, phone or another method of communication.

The Crown Point School Corp. COVID-19 dashboard states the time it takes to complete contact tracing can result in a delay of data.

"Because of the time it takes to contact trace, most cases are not added until the day after the positive case is reported to us," the dashboard states. "Our nurses are working as quickly as they can. We ask that parents report positive cases to their school as soon as they receive results."

Micah Pollak, an associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest, tracks COVID-19 data in the district. He tweeted Tuesday that he saw 116 cases of COVID-19 in Crown Point schools reported on the dashboard for the week of Jan. 3 through 7. He said on Wednesday the number increased to 151 for that week.

Through Friday, the number reported for the week of Jan. 3-7 is 169, indicating that data from the first week of classes is still being input.

The first week back

The Crown Point School Corp. sent a letter to parents in the evening Jan. 3 stating masks would be required the first week back, Jan. 4-7.

The letter states this cautionary step was because the district was still collecting data regarding positive cases from the previous week in order to have an accurate picture of each building's status.

Pollak kept his daughter from school the first week of classes. He said that Crown Point's actions were not enough given the omicron variant, even if they did require masks.

Kara Graper has three children in the district. She said her children wear masks at school, but often see others not masking. Graper kept her first-grader home the first week of this semester, as she was not yet fully vaccinated.

Graper said parents are receiving poor communication from the district as to what to do.

"Us parents are just totally flying solo," Graper said.

Melissa Houlding, who has a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old in the district, kept her students home until Wednesday. She said she was still hesitant to send them back, but with her perceived lack of elearning options, she was stuck.

Her children wear masks at school and are picked up for lunch instead of eating in the cafeteria, but she is still scared.

Ed Finn pulled his youngest children out of the district at the beginning of the school year. His son is a senior at Crown Point High School.

His son wears an N95 mask at school everyday, but sees other students in the school not wearing masks or wearing them improperly. Finn said his son knows more than 30 kids who are out sick with COVID-19.

The dashboard does not provide last week's numbers for Crown Point High School, but does show the number of close contacts. For the week of Jan. 3-7, the high school had 690 close contacts. The week of Jan. 10-14 has seen 276 close contacts so far.

The 2% Rule

The district returned to its mask optional policy on Monday. The policy states that if COVID-19 cases rise above 2% of the total building's population, everybody in that building will be required to wear masks for the next 14 days.

The school district did not provide more information on the 2% number for this story.

Crown Point's policy states students who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to quarantine. Students who come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 are not required to quarantine unless they display symptoms. In keeping with a federal mandate, Crown Point continues to require masks on school buses.

Crown Point previously offered a mix of in-person and online instruction during the 2020-21 school year. The district began 2021-22 with a mask optional policy, but reinstated a mandate at the end of August after 900 students and staff were placed in quarantine.

The district became mask optional Dec. 6 following the Nov. 22School Board meeting.

A law passed last May requiring local health departments that want to impose health orders that go beyond the state requirement must get approval from their respective legislative bodies.

The Lake County Health Department posted a statement Dec. 10 confirming that "all unmasked close contact students and staff shall complete the required quarantine period." However, without the authority to impose stricter mandates, the health department has limited powers.

Schwartz said she looks at the dashboard and is confused because she can name more students out than what the number listed said.

Pollak said the 2% rule, given the delay in data, can be dangerous.

"If you have an icy road, you don't wait until 20 cars crash to warn them," Pollak said. He said once the school is at the point of 2% of the building is actively facing COVID-19, it is too late.

He also said it does not take into consideration the administration who may go between the schools.

Houlding said it does not make sense to base their policy on numbers that are out of date, as it is never clear if they hit the 2% threshold.

Finn said it is unclear where the numbers are coming from.

"I don't understand the failure to lead on this issue," Finn said.

The Indiana Department of Health provides guidelines if masks are required in schools or if masks are optional. In districts where masks are not required, if vaccinated students are exposed to COVID-19 and are asymptomatic, they can return to the classroom but are required to wear a mask for 10 days. Unvaccinated students must stay home for five days, then can return with a mask. The CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all individuals in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

In Crown Point, individuals who are exposed are not required to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status, if they are asymptomatic.

Pollak said even if Crown Point masks, it is not enough. He said that he felt funds from COVID-19 relief spending could go to better ventilation or more nurses in school buildings. Crown Point received $5,600,004.94 in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds between ESSER II and ESSER III.

The district also stated that it does not have plans to require the COVID-19 vaccine and will not be hosting vaccination clinics through the school.

Houlding said this policy, especially at a reputable school district like Crown Point, is "crazy," given how high cases are in Lake County.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, the county has a 33.2% positivity rate in tests administered in the last seven days. There have been 700 new cases since the previous update. There were 6,562 new student cases of COVID-19 in Indiana as of Jan. 10.

"Crown Point is a laughing stock now," Houlding said.

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