Crisis Communications, College COVID Testing Data, Judge Rebuffs Bid To Ease Limits on Private Schools

(From ICEF Monitor) Communicating regularly and empathetically with all stakeholders, including students, can help schools build a foundation of trust and transparency, according to communications expert Paul Argenti. The key is to ensure that whomever is communicating to students and parents is doing so calmly, proactively and knowledgably if and when an outbreak does occur. Argenti recommends that crisis communications should:

• Be small; no more than five to seven people, with representatives from the leadership team, corporate communications, HR, and an expert in the area of concern.
• Meet regularly to monitor the situation closely as it continues to evolve.
• Be the main source of information about the crisis.
• Be as transparent as possible; explain what you know, what you don’t know, and your sources of information.
• Be succinct; long messages written by health professionals or lawyers will not be read or easily understood.

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(From NPR) Of the colleges and universities that have chosen to hold classes in person this fall, two out of every three are not conducting widespread testing of their students for the coronavirus, an NPR analysis has found. The data from more than 1,400 colleges show that 25% are conducting mass screening or random "surveillance" testing of students, while only 6% are routinely testing all of their students. Most, instead, are relying on only diagnostic testing of symptomatic students, which many experts say comes too late to control outbreaks, and high numbers of undetected cases are a major risk to cash-strapped colleges anticipating reopening in-person in the spring. But with some coronavirus tests costing more than $100 each, the high cost of acquiring thousands of tests puts such comprehensive testing out of reach for many colleges.

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(From The Associated Press) A federal judge has turned down an initial request to ease pandemic-related occupancy limits for in-person instruction at independent schools in New Mexico, in a setback for a lawsuit supported by the U.S. Justice Department. Plaintiffs say the health order unfairly limits in-person learning at private schools to 25% of maximum room capacity, while public schools can apply to reopen under separate guidelines at 50%. In rejecting the request for a preliminary injunction, Judge William Johnson cast doubt on the complaint from the father of a seventh grade prep school student in Albuquerque who has only engaged in online learning during the pandemic due to provisions of a statewide public health order. Johnson noted that the seventh grader in question can meet with classmates online or at another location.

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