Basis Charter schools are considering closing their Maricopa County campuses. Due to the drastic rise of COVID-19 cases, Basis.Ed is considering a few factors before they make the decision of closing their campuses. They will be taking into account the number of COVID cases per 100,000 cases in Maricopa County each week, the percentage of how many people are testing positive per week, the hospitalization rate of COVID cases, and the availability of rapid testing in Maricopa County.
The escalation of COVID cases per 100,000 cases in Maricopa County per week will affect the decision of whether the schooling process will be online, in-person, or a combination of both. If there are 100 cases in Maricopa county per every 100,000 people in the county for each week, then there will be a very high chance of moving back to online school. However, if there are between 10 to 100 cases in the county out of the 100,000 people per week, then there will be restricted on-campus instruction with a combination of online schooling based on what each student chooses. Finally, if the cases known are below 100 per 100,000 people and continue to drop, then there will be a very high probability of re-opening campuses.
Basis.Ed is also analyzing the rate of how many people are testing positive and the hospitalization rate of COVID cases in Maricopa County. If hospitalization and positivity rates are above 10% and continue to increase, there is a potential of moving back to online school only. Schools will reopen if they have a rate of below 10% for the least amount of risk.
Before any new decisions are made, Basis.Ed will consult with their partners including Arizona State University to determine whether in-person instruction should be stopped. Hopefully, everyone continues to stay safe and to wear a mask during these scary times.
