Shakopee Public School Shared Secondary IHD Program to Remain in Distance Learning

Press release from the Shakopee Public Schools:

January 28, 2021

During the January 28th Shakopee Public Schools Pandemic Response Advisory Team meeting, the latest Scott County COVID-19 case rate data was reviewed. As previously relayed, secondary schools in the IHD program (East Middle School, West Middle School, Shakopee High School and *Tokata Learning Center) will transition from distance to hybrid learning when the 14-day COVID-19 cases per 10,000 residents in Scott County falls below 25 and into the range of 15 to 25 cases. Unfortunately, the case rates have not yet fallen below 25 cases per 10,000. Thus, for the time being, the secondary IHD program will remain in distance learning. For a summary of Scott County COVID-19 case data, click here.

Next step

• The district’s Pandemic Response Advisory Team (PRAT) will meet again on Thursday, February 4, 2021 to examine the COVID-19 data and determine if secondary IHD will transition to hybrid learning on February 16.

*Please note, Tokata Learning Center follows components of the IHD program, but has additional flexibility in providing services due to the unique nature of their programs.

Why is the range from 15 up to 25 important?

Since the beginning of the school year, the Pandemic Response Advisory Team, School Board and district leaders have been using the rationale that ‘the cases per 10,000 data needs to stabilize in the middle of the new, lower range’ prior to making a transition from distance to hybrid learning (or hybrid to in-person). To give more clarity, in the current situation, the middle range for hybrid learning has been defined as being from 15 up to 25 cases per 10,000. Waiting for case numbers to drop into the middle of the lower range prior to making a learning model transition in the secondary IHD program is being done so the program doesn’t bounce back and forth between hybrid and distance learning models, if it can be prevented. The goal is to make this type of transition with a solid expectation our secondary IHD program will be able to safely stay in the new learning model for an extended period of time.

Important Future Secondary IHD Communication

• Friday, February 5: The district will communicate an update of the Pandemic Response Advisory Team meeting on February 4.
• Previous communications can be found here.
• Upcoming district no school days remain unchanged.

Please continue to work together as a community to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

This press release was produced by the Shakopee Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.