Longmont City Council members say they are worried about the impact local and regional school openings will have on city employees and services as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
City Manager Harold Dominguez told council members during a work session Tuesday night that city staff members have children enrolled in school districts along the Front Range. Each district's reopening plans, and any changes in those plans, could effect the city.
“That’s a piece that fundamentally impacts how we ... handle daily operations,” Dominguez said. “That’s a piece we are definitely looking at.”
Outbreaks at day care centers and Front Range Community College could also affect the workings of the city, council members said.
They also urged Domniguez to work closely with school districts to understand the implications of their opening day plans and of a COVID-19 outbreak.
“We really need to be working with the school system and Boulder County Public Health to have a plan when schools open up,” Councilmember Polly Christensen said. “I am really worried we are not going to be prepared for schools to open up. And then a whole lot of people get sick and carry home the disease to families and that could really be a disaster.”
Having sick children spreading the disease into the community, “could undermine everything we have tried so hard to establish,” Christensen said.
Council member Susie Hidalgo-Fahring, who is a teacher in the St. Vrain Valley School District, said COVID-19 outbreaks in facilities and schools well outside of Longmont could lead to problems in the city.
Hidalgo-Fahring also said city officials should not dismiss the fear the pandemic is producing in communities.
“We’ve had teachers coming in for early retirement,” she said. “People are afraid.”
Dominguez said Jeff Zayach, Boulder County Public Health executive director, is “knee deep” in conversations with school districts about school openings. Dominguez has not talked to the St. Vrain School District about its reopening plans, he said.
The city is also trying to interpret ever-changing mandates from state and local health officials on masks and other measures, said City Attorney Eugene Mei.
“These are shifting sands,” Mei said. “These things will keep on changing but get better because of public feedback.”
CORRECTION: In the second paragraph, City Manager Harold Dominguez was referring to how reopening plans could impact city employees. In the 11th paragraph, Jeff Zayach, Boulder County Public Health executive director, is "knee deep" in talks with school districts, not Dominguez.
