CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Executive leaders from the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and the district’s teacher association gathered virtually Wednesday night to hear concerns and strategize on solutions about Clarksville’s growing COVID-19 numbers.

On Dec. 15, the school system announced all students would transition to remote learning for the rest of the year beginning Wednesday, Dec. 16.

In the email announcement that was sent to parents, CMCSS cited staffing issues as well as COVID-19 concerns as reasons for their decision to stop in-person classes.

CMCEA’s initial concerns

The Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Association (CMCEA), submitted a letter to Director of Schools Millard House on Nov. 23 with concerns about the Thanksgiving holiday causing a spike in positive COVID-19 cases both in the school and the surrounding community.

In that letter, CMCEA asked the district to consider moving all students to remote learning for the weeks before and after the scheduled winter break, to include Dec. 14-19 and Jan. 4-8.

While the school system partially granted this request by going remote for half of the last week before CMCSS’s winter break begins, the school system says it was not because of CMCEA’s suggested solution.

“The decision to transition to remote learning was not in response to the letter from CMCEA; it was in response to the conditions of the pandemic,” CMCSS Chief Communications Officer Anthony Johnson said.

Decisions have yet to be made about how students will return to school in the new year.

CMCSS adapts

CMCEA President Constance Brown told Clarksville Now that CMCSS’s decision to go remote for the rest of this week was the right one.

“I think the call that Mr. House made about finishing out this year or semester (remotely) was the right call when looking at the data. We foresaw the spike coming – the ‘Thanksgiving effect’ as he called it at the school board meeting – and he said that they did too. So it was the right call for employees as well as the students,” Brown said.

This spike, in combination with the conditions of COVID-19’s spread across the state at the second highest pace in the nation as reported by Clarksville Now news partner WKRN, was what prompted CMCSS’s decision to transition to remote.

“The compelling local and state COVID-19 data and staffing issues were the factors that went into difficult decision to transition to remote learning Wednesday through Friday of this week,” Johnson said.

On Dec. 4, CMCSS’s active cases originating from in-person learning comprised 5.6% of the total cases in all of Clarksville-Montgomery County, Johnson told Clarksville Now. Four days later, that total doubled to 10.2% on Dec. 8.

On Monday, Dec. 14, it was around 10.7%.

Ample warning

“It was a great open dialogue for the executive board to let Mr. House know, and other members that were on the call from senior leadership, face-to face if you will, about the concerns were are hearing and what prompted that letter,” Brown said of the meeting.

“It was actually the first meeting that Mr. House had with the entire executive board of CMCEA,” she continued. However, Brown meets with Mr. House monthly, as has been the case for two and a half years.

Brown said the school system is still deciding — if the school district starts remotely in the coming year — whether or not the schedules will be synchronous or asynchronous, or a combination of both.

“We want to be back. We want our kids back. We’re not asking for a vacation, and I do believe some have perceived (the CMCEA letter) that way. Teachers love their students, and they want to be with their students, but we are reporting to buildings and right now doing asynchronous learning,” Brown said.

The CMCEA Executive Board also asked that the school system attempt to give ample notice to both CMCSS educators and parents on the plan to return from winter break.

“Parents need to be able to make arrangements on childcare if needed. Many of our employees are parents as well, so it’s important that we have as much advanced notice as possible, and (Director House) said he was committed to doing that,” Brown said.

“While we strive to be proactive and communicate changes to staff and families as quickly as possible, the circumstances of the pandemic are ever-changing,” Johnson tells Clarksville Now in response.

“I hope and pray that our students will take this time to practice safety because COVID is no joke,” Brown said. “And if we will all practice social distancing, wearing our masks, and doing the things that have been recommended by medical professionals, then our actions until the vaccine really takes hold can help us curtail these spikes.”