COVID-19 Update from Dr. Campbell
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Dear Plymouth Community,
I would like to address the situation that we are currently facing regarding the recent update of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard and how that information informs our educational decisions as a school community. As you noticed from yesterday’s update, Plymouth is now considered a red community which means the town of Plymouth has experienced an average of eight or more daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.
There has been much discussion about the COVID-19 health and safety metrics and how they can be a helpful guideline for when schools should adjust their learning model. Such metrics should serve as a guide as to whether schools should be using full-time in-person learning, hybrid, or remote models, and will also support future decision-making if the impact of COVID-19 requires us to switch between educational models throughout the school year.
Each Wednesday, the Department of Public Health releases its Weekly COVID-19 Public Health Report that contains critical metrics for each municipality. There will also be a color-coded indication posted for each municipality calculated on a rolling two-week basis:
Red will designate communities with more than 8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Yellow will designate communities that have more than 4 and up to 8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Green will designate communities that have 4 or fewer COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Unshaded will designate communities with small populations and fewer than 5 cases within the last 14 days.
While average daily cases per 100,000 over a two-week period is the metric that determines the color-coding for each community, districts and schools also monitor whether cases are increasing or decreasing as compared to the prior period. The local test positivity rate also remains an important metric to monitor. In addition to our internal school data, our district would look at multiple consecutive weekly COVID-19 reports to assess trends in order to inform any changes to our learning model.
At this time, we are not looking to change our current learning model for the Plymouth Public Schools.
We recognize that there is much to consider as to how best to serve our students in ways that are safe for students, teachers, staff, families, and the community at large. It is my hope that this information assists the community in understanding how we collaborate with state and local departments regarding the management of COVID-19 cases and how that guides our educational decisions.
As always, if you have any questions at any time, please feel free to contact your school administration, our Director of School Health Services, or my office.
Sincerely,
Christopher Campbell,
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Christopher S. Campbell
Superintendent of Schools
11 Lincoln Street | Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-830-4300 | Fax: 508-746-1873