Health official urges Washoe County schools to remain closed

RENO — The Washoe County School District should not reopen its schools due the the “high potential for increased spread” of COVID-19, the county’s health officer said Thursday.

Washoe County Health Officer Kevin Dick submitted the recommendation to the district health board, saying he could not endorse in-classroom teaching under the current circumstances.

“I can’t recommend reopening schools physically in Washoe County due to the high potential for increased spread of disease that exists,” Dick said. “Due to the risk of infection, the upward trend in new cases since July 12 and criteria set at the state and federal level, distance learning is the safest path forward at this time. Due to the elevated level of disease transmission currently occurring in Washoe County, our fear is the high potential of the virus spreading to students and faculty, and eventually to our vulnerable populations, where the fatality rate is much higher.”

The School Board earlier this month approved a reopening plan that would have all elementary school students return to classes full-time. Middle and high school students would use a plan similar to Clark County’s cohort system, where they would rotate an A/B schedule with half their instruction in person and half utilizing distance learning.

The recommendation was based on Washoe exceeding the criteria in two out of three disease metrics identified by the governor’s office for counties.

The White House Task Force identified Washoe County as being in the “Yellow Zone” for COVID-19 transmissions, and recommended that gatherings be capped at no more than 25 people, which could conflict with in-person classes, the health district said.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.