ELY – Memorial School students will be back in the classroom starting Monday, Feb. 8, as they transition from hybrid learning to in-person learning.

The adjustment in education was recommended by the ISD 696 administration team and agreed to by the Ely Safe Learning Plan Advisory Council (ESLPAC) on Thursday afternoon.

Superintendent Erik Erie cited a continued drop in the Northern St. Louis County dashboard data that indicated a descending trend in reported positive cases of the coronavirus in the region.

“The data went down this week to 17.3 (per 10,000 people), and is now below 20 which is one of our markers in the Restart Blueprint of our safe learning plan,” he said. The positive case trend dropped from 24.8 two weeks ago and 20. 4 last week.

The original Restart Blueprint protocols called for hybrid learning for all secondary students if the biweekly positive case rate was between 10 and 19 positive cases per 10,000 people. The calculation is designed with a built-in two-week lag period to ensure the accuracy of all cases reported and is used in conjunction with other data to determine the appropriate learning model.

“The other great news is that our ZIP code cumulative data has stayed the same for the last two weeks,” Erie said. Schools throughout St. Louis County, including Duluth, have been experiencing a downward trend in reported positive cases, Erie said.

The Memorial students, grades 6-12, have been in a hybrid learning scenario since mid-November. Washington students, grades K-5, remain in the in-person learning protocol with elements of hybrid learning to keep students as safe as possible.

Megan Anderson, 6-12 principal said that at a consultation meeting earlier this week with the Minnesota Health Department and Minnesota Department of Education, the regional support team predicted the county-wide drop in positive COVID-19 case rate data.

“In looking at our local case rate data and other factors, they did give us the green light to move ahead and bring students back into the building,” she said. “We are really looking forward to having the kiddos back in the building.”

The Ely school board, while not required to approve the learning plan transition, will be advised of the move at monthly board meeting on Monday night.

Read more on the Ely school safe learning plan transition in the Feb. 12 edition of The Timberjay Newspaper.