COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nearly 600,000 Ohio schoolchildren in 325 districts will return to school this fall for in-person classes, according to figures released by Gov. Mike DeWine.
Almost 400,000 students in 55 districts will be attending online, while about 380,000 students in 154 districts will be doing some combination of in-person and online classes, the governor said. The state didn’t have information for 78 additional districts.
DeWine said he believes that schools are doing a good job of getting ready for all options.
But children’s well-being as they return to classes, and their ability to do activities ranging from sports to band to theater, will be influenced by community efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, the governor emphasized in Tuesday remarks. That includes continued mask wearing, social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings.
“It’s incumbent upon all of us, every single one of us, to do everything we can to keep down the spread in the community in which that school lives,” DeWine said.
The Department of Health reported 1,422 probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, above below the state’s seven-day case average. The agency has reported more than 104,000 probable and confirmed cases to date, with more than 3,700 deaths.