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Two people in Springfield schools tested positive for COVID-19, leading to 51 additional students and staff quarantining to prevent the potential for additional spread this week.
On Tuesday, the school district s nurse was notified by Lane County Public Health of two unrelated cases of COVID-19. One was at Centennial Elementary School and the other at Riverbend Elementary School.
The district would not say whether the positive cases were identified in students or staff, because the small size of these schools would make it easy to identify those individuals, district spokesperson Jen McCulley said.
However, the district said that 51 additional people were notified as being potential close contacts between the two schools.
Oregon s massive school nurse shortage put in spotlight by COVID
Register-Guard
For the past 11 months, school districts have relied on their nurses to make sense of constantly evolving pandemic needs. School nurses suddenly became more crucial than ever, and yet, Oregon doesn t have anywhere near enough of them.
Oregon has faced a significant school nurse shortage for more than a decade. In 2009, Oregon lawmakers saw it as an issue and tasked the state and school districts with reaching a ratio of 1 nurse to 750 students by 2020.
But the state is nowhere near this goal. Last year, Oregon’s Department of Education reported a nurse to student ratio of 1 to 4,572. This ratio is better than years past.
Eugene- and Springfield-area school districts are preparing for an eventual return to school buildings after a loosening of state COVID-19 restrictions on Jan. 1 granted them more local control. However, with some unanswered questions, they re waiting on more state guidance to come this month before making any decisions.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Dec. 23 that in the new year, school districts will no longer be required to abide by state restrictions based on case counts to reopen schools. Instead, the state s health metrics will be advisory rather than mandatory, and districts will make the call whether to bring students back for in-person instruction.