Highland school district, city council continue maneuvering around COVID-19 pandemic
As some COVID-19 restrictions are lifted in the metro-east, Highland city and school leaders continue to struggle with the impacts of the pandemic.
Highland registered 19 new cases over the weekend, bringing the total of confirmed cases so far to 1,815 as of Sunday, the fifth highest in Madison County.
Through the school district reports issued weekly from Highland District 5, there were six positive cases among students and seven among staff last week, resulting in more than 60 students and staff in quarantine — some from exposure at school, and some from outside exposures.
That brings the totals reported to the schools since the holiday break to approximately 34 students and 18 staff members testing positive, with 254 students and 17 staff members required to quarantine over the month of January.
As vaccination moves into Tier 1B — primarily educators, essential workers, people over age 65 and others whose work leaves them susceptible to public contact — Highland District 5 schools are preparing for waves of staff to be released over a period of time to be vaccinated, according to a letter from Superintendent Mike Sutton.
“I assure you we are discussing every opportunity to make the process as efficient as possible,” he said. “However, the overall picture of the county as a whole makes these decisions very difficult for the county. They have to present options that appear fair to all, so prioritizing districts or populations is proving to be a challenge.”
But District 5 is still struggling with other impacts from COVID-19. For example, on Jan. 19, there were 21 teachers absent, mostly due to COVID-related illness or quarantines, Sutton wrote.
“If we were to have another 15-20 teachers being vaccinated that day, we would not have been able to conduct in-person learning,” he said. “I fear at some point in the near future, we may have to look at a short-term remote plan, perhaps multiple times to manage the roll-out of vaccines.”
Sutton said he is working with the health department to minimize the impact, however, and urged parents and the community to “please be prepared to be flexible.”
The Madison County Health Department recently completed a vaccination registration survey, to which more than 45,000 people responded. As of last week, the health department announced they would be contacting people in Tier 1B to help them schedule vaccinations against COVID-19.
The 7-day positivity rate in Madison County was 10.94 percent as of Sunday, with seven deaths over the weekend. The highest number of cases is in Granite City, with 3,410 cumulative cases, according to the Madison County Health Department, and the most new cases are being diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s.
Highland council meetings remain virtual
Meanwhile, the city council continues to meet via conference call given the current rate of infection. Interim city manager Chris Conrad said he had received a number of inquiries about when the council would meet in person again, and he said they continue to monitor the numbers very closely.
“We will be evaluating that every two weeks, and we will keep the council informed where we are with that,” he said.
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 11:02 AM.