School closure rules

[Jymdey Yeffimo]

Dear Tim,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am contacting you because although at times I have supported the school closure due to covid19, it has always been unclear how this is triggered. Since the pandemic started ICS has set clear protocols that students, families and teachers have to follow to be on campus and we sincerely appreciate them. It would be good, however, if the school would also set clear rules (clear rates of infections or mortality, or use of ICUs or any other metric) that would trigger moving online. Also, I would like to understand why the school would not move online only when mandated by the Government of Ethiopia?

Thanks in advance and kind regards,

Jymdey

[ICS Comms]

Thanks Jymdey for your email.  

The indicators that ICS monitors are in the ICS Campus Playbook, HERE. The Playbook is very clear detailing what ICS looks at when considering the health and safety of our students and employees relating to Covid.  Our Covid protocols are also based on best practices from around the world and have been a strong contributor to mitigating the risk of transmission on campus to date. The health and safety of our students and employees continue to be our number 1 priority.  

As we have done in the past, we look at all the indicators and make decisions to move learning online as needed to ensure the health and safety of our students and the continuity of learning. A government mandate is not the only reason we move learning online. We will not waiver from our indicators or protocols.  Our protocols are strong and are even stronger when everyone in our community participates.  

We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation and keep parents informed.

Best,

​

[Jymdey Yeffimo]

Dear Kristi,

Thanks for your prompt response but let me try to clarify my questions. The ICS Campus Playbook states the indicators that the school monitors and evaluates. However, it does not state what parameters or combination of them would trigger moving online (e.g. x% of 14 days increase in positivity rates, with y% of severe cases)

Question: Why the protocol does not include the parameters that, if reached, would mean moving online? As I said in my first e-mail the rules for moving online are not clear. This is important for us, parents, to understand the school decision making on this matter.

And my two other questions: Would ICS decide to move online even if public schools are remaining open? if so, why?

Thanks in advance,

Jymdey

[ICS Comms]

Dear Jymdey,

Thanks for your email.  As I am sure you are aware, we have been faced with Covid decisions before, in March 2020, Sept 2020, April 2021 and on divisional levels throughout the 2020-21 school year.

Our indicators or decision-making has not changed.  Our number 1 priority is the health and safety of our students and employees.  

To answer your question:  Why the protocol does not include the parameters that, if reached, would mean moving online? As we have communicated in the past, for our indicators, there is no one magic number or percentage that would prompt an immediate move to online learning, with the exception of a direct mandate for ICS from the government.  The indicators must be seen in context - relating to each other, to what’s happening in Addis and what’s happening on campus, before we make any decisions to move learning online.

To answer your other questions: Would ICS decide to move online even if public schools are remaining open? if so, why?  Yes, we would move online even if public schools remain open, as we have in March 2020, Sept 2020, April 2021 and on divisional levels throughout the 2020-21 school year.  We made these decisions based on monitoring our indicators and wanting to ensure the health and safety of our students, employees and community.

Thanks for the conversation.