The Mancos school board decided Nov. 9 to keep in-person learning through the holiday season, despite the Montezuma County Public Health Department and Southwest Memorial Hospital’s recommendation that schools transition to online learning.

Board members said they were concerned about working or single parents who can’t afford to take time off to monitor their children’s education and provide care during the day.

Officials from the health department and hospital who attended the board meeting warned that indoor holiday gatherings – especially as people eat and talk around the table – can spread the virus.

“Unfortunately that’s the perfect way for the COVID-19 to spread,” said Kent Aiken, Southwest Memorial Hospital’s chief of medicine and a physician with the county health department.

The school board discussion took place the same day that more than 100 people used the drive-thru testing site at Southwest Memorial Hospital.

Last week, health officials reported 70 new positive cases and increased hospitalizations. More people ages 19 to 40 – who might have children in school – increasingly have tested positive for the coronavirus, and five people were hospitalized for COVID-19 at one time last week, Aiken said.

If hospitals in the county filled to capacity, it would put the area in a “red zone,” according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Once in the red zone, Montezuma County could face a “stay at home” order.

With a rising rate of positive tests, Montezuma County is tipping into the “orange zone,” which limits capacity in public places but does not require remote learning.

The Mancos School District R-6 board chose to follow state guidance, even though local hospital officials expressed concern that an outbreak in schools would tip the county into a “stay at home” order.

“It’s in every county, in every town,” Bobbi Lock, director of the Montezuma County Health Department, told the Mancos school board.

If parents are concerned about the virus, they can Zoom their children into the classroom, Superintendent Brian Hanson said.

“If staff want to quarantine, we will have to get more creative,” he said.

Board member Blake Mitchell argued that schools were being “picked on,” since hunters were allowed to visit the county and events continued at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds. Yet, school districts follow strict mask and social distancing protocols better than some organizations and businesses, he said.

Kerri White-Singleton, chief operating officer of the Southwest Medical Group, agreed that many people in Montezuma County have not followed hospital recommendations on mask and social distancing protocols.

“We have to control what we can control,” she said.

Lock said it is possible children might be safer in school, because some parents and families don’t follow school protocol at home. Still, she said, schools are a place where children can spread the virus between families.

Mancos senior and student body President Kylie Guiles read a letter from the Student Council that asked the district to keep in-person learning.

“Online learning poses challenges in terms of student participation, motivation and the retention of information,” Guiles said.

For Mancos students, the effects of switching to remote learning are more detrimental than the effects of in-person learning, Guiles said.

“I believe that decisions should be made to benefit the overall well-being of the student body, not to placate the desires of the Health Department,” she said.

The Montezuma-Cortez School District decided to transition in-person students to online learning Nov. 12 due to the number of teachers forced to quarantine.

“It was impacting our ability to keep our schools staffed,” Superintendent Lori Haukeness said.

Southwest Open School already is remote.

Hanson said it is possible Mancos schools will go to online learning. If four high school teachers quarantined, a lack of substitutes might force students online, he said. He encouraged parents to wear masks and to tell their children to wear masks.

“This is what’s at stake: closing the schools down,” board member Katie Cahill-Volpe said.

School board members also were concerned about the impact of remote learning on students’ mental health. Lock said the Health Department would discuss the best way to provide mental health care to students after school districts finalized plans for the semester.

ehayes@the-journal.com

This article was reposted Nov. 11 correct the number of drive-thru tests at Southwest Memorial Hospital.