COEUR d’ALENE — During another special meeting of the Coeur d'Alene School Board on Monday, trustees voted to ratify plans Superintendent Steve Cook set in motion Oct. 16 when he moved high schools to the "orange" risk category.

Venture High School has since requested to align with elementary and middle schools, which are now in session in person four days a week under a modified reopening plan, because of its small size. The other high schools are attending in person two days a week with remote learning three days a week because of the substantial number of kids out from close-contact quarantines and positive COVID cases.

"Kootenai Health does keep us apprised of what they're covering, and right now their seven-day update on percent positivity is 16.6%," Cook said. "There's currently 34 people hospitalized right now with 11 in critical care. That's very similar to the data that was on Friday, and the incidence rate has crept up ever so slightly more over the weekend."

He said data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which tends to lag a bit behind Panhandle Health District's info, indicated a COVID incidence rate of 50.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Board Chairman Casey Morrisroe said he wanted to reaffirm what occurred during the special meeting Friday, that the board will continue to monitor COVID in the district, especially at the middle school level.

"If needed, we will reconvene the board if a change is warranted, whether that be to add more days or to go to a hybrid model," he said.

Trustee Lisa May asked Cook about the metrics that would be used to necessitate a color change in the middle schools as the district is moving away from the reopening plan set at the beginning of the school year. He said decisions on the high schools have been based on the impact of absences from close contact quarantining and positive cases.

"Over the weekend, we had two cases reported, one in a staff member and one in a student," Cook said, adding that another student was reported positive Monday. These things would be considered when deciding to move a school building or the entire district to the four-day or the hybrid model, he said.

Cook said changes to the State Board of Education's reopening plan modified the "red" risk category into a "when the community shuts down, the schools shut down" model.

"I think that's kind of the general consensus," he said. "When things like bars and restaurants and storefronts are shutting their doors, that's when we would essentially start to shut our schools. That's the general consensus. That's the board's decision, of course, but I think that's the alignment we'd be getting into."

Regarding quarantine protocol, district officials are talking with local pediatricians, health care providers and Panhandle Health District to reduce the quarantine time for students exposed to a positive COVID case from 14 to possibly six to eight days so they don't miss so much in-school instruction. Currently, Cook explained, under a critical workforce plan, when staff return, asymptomatic and with a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, they're allowed to come back under strict non-pharmaceutical interventions to participate in work after that exposure once they have their results. It is being explored if something similar can be true for students.

The discussion has been tabled until more input and data can be collected to support any changes to the present protocol.

The school board meets again next Monday at 5 p.m.

Info: www.cdaschools.org