JASON HAWK
EDITOR
PITTSFIELD TWP. — The Lorain County JVS is canceling in-person classes and returning to completely online learning.
The decision was announced Friday, after Ohio’s new COVID-19 cases jumped by more than 8,000 overnight and Lorain County cases shot up by 148.
“Many of you all are working from home. Many of you all have experienced challenges with this virus,” JVS Superintendent Glenn Faircloth said in a video announcement. “Unfortunately, these numbers are continuing to rise, not only in the state of Ohio but in our county. It is with a saddened heart that I must come to this decision.”
Effective Monday, the JVS preschool is closed until further notice.
The vocational school’s classes are canceled Monday and Tuesday to give staff time to switch over to a new synchronous remote learning model. They’ll resume Wednesday and students will be expected to log on and take part in classes at specific times.
Adult Career Center classes will begin full remote instruction Monday.
“This was a difficult decision, and not the one we wanted to make, but our students and staff’s health must come first,” Faircloth said in a written release.
His school has had three student coronavirus cases and another two among staff, the most recent reported Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health.
While those aren’t big numbers, a release from the school said JVS staff “want to take proactive steps to help stop the spread of this virus and that means limiting in-person interactions and group settings.”
Faircloth said he hopes the JVS can return to in-person learning soon.
According to the state’s reporting system, which often lags behind, there were 15 new student cases and 26 new staff cases in Lorain County public and private schools as of Thursday.
Staffing shortages due to the virus caused closures Friday at Clearview’s Durling Middle School and Sheffield-Sheffield Lake’s Brookside Intermediate School.
