Some Indiana School Districts Begin Return To E-Learning As Coronavirus Cases Increase

As positive coronavirus cases increase across Indiana, some school districts are shifting back to remote learning for students.

All six public school corporations in central Johnson County are requiring middle and high school students to follow a hybrid schedule that limits in-person learning to two days a week. Districts said they were working in consultation with the Johnson County Health Department.

This shift to limit in-person learning came as Johnson County’s coronavirus positivity rate rises to 11 percent, according to the state’s 7-day average for all tests.

Tuesday the state reported 4,879 new cases of the coronavirus, and 63 additional deaths. The new cases bring the state's tally to 219,338. There have been 4,481 deaths.

Center Grove Schools announced the change to part-time e-learning Monday following 13 positive cases in the previous few days. Monday afternoon, the district reported more than 80 middle and high school students were in quarantine due to the case. The quarantine surged to 413 students and employees Tuesday.

“We apologize for the very short notice of this change,” read a statement on the district website about the move to hybrid learning. “As we shared last week, we anticipated this move could come quickly.”

The other districts in the country with schools moving to hybrid learning are Clark-Pleasant, Edinburgh, Franklin, Greenwood and Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson school corporations.

School districts in other parts of the state are also responding to the record number of total cases reported in state during the past week.

The Tippecanoe School Corporation, the largest district in the northwestern county, started e-learning Tuesday for its high schools and all other students will start full remote learning Wednesday. Athletic practices and competitions are cancelled through the month.

In Marion County, Beech Grove City Schools moved all high school students to full-time e-learning and suspended all athletic practices and competitions. District leaders plan to review the remote learning decision at the end of this week.

Across the state, around 8,500 students, teachers and staff have tested positive for the virus, according to state data.

Contact WFYI education reporter Eric Weddle at eweddle@wfyi.org or call (317) 614-0470. Follow on Twitter: @ericweddle.