In a three-hour meeting on Monday, Dec. 7, the Sedona-Oak Creek School District Governing Board voted unanimously to keep Sedona Red Rock High School and West Sedona School open for in-person learning during the nine remaining school days before winter break starts Saturday, Dec. 19.

But when school reconvenes on Monday, Jan. 4, classes will be virtual-only and stay that way for a few days after.

The meeting, packed with around 40 people on all sides of the Sedona Performing Arts Center lobby, came a day after the ninth COVID-19 positive case in the district was reported by SOCSD Assistant Superintendent Deana DeWitt.

“There were three confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 over the Thanksgiving break involving members of our learning commu­nity,” DeWitt wrote in an email to district families on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 6.

“We were notified of our first COVID-positive student at West Sedona School [who was in atten­dance at school on Friday, Dec. 4],” she wrote in a Dec. 7 email to the Sedona Red Rock News. “I was over at that campus this morning overseeing the close contact tracing and communicating with staff and students affected in that case.

“There are now nine confirmed positive cases district-wide,” eight at SRRHS and one at WSS, DeWitt said. One teacher and eight students have been infected since Oct. 23.

Another one of the three students who became COVID-positive over Thanksgiving break had attended campus on Dec. 3, and Dewitt had been in touch with all who were in close contact, she said in the letter.

The numbers are still small compared to nearby school districts. Both Mingus Union High and Camp Verde Unified school districts made the decision Dec. 3 to go back to virtual-only at least until their campuses return from winter break in January.

MUHSD Superintendent Mike Westcott said there were five active positive cases among their staff and seven active student cases, with 59 staff and students under quarantine. He argued that this was making classes hard to staff.

Camp Verde Unified School District, which has had over 40 cases of COVID between its schools, had committed as recently as Nov. 19 to stay open. However, the virus has been spreading among the schools’ staff, and one cafeteria worker recently died.

At the SOCSD meeting on Monday, the board, administra­tors, teachers, parents, students and community members discussed the possibility of going back to virtual-only learning.

Thirteen community members gave their opinion on going back to virtual-only, with 11 voicing their concerns with it and two for the closures.

English teacher Nate Hansen had his back turned to the audience during most of his speech, noting that that’s what it was like teaching students virtually.

Emily Frey, president of the junior high student council, said that her peers got severe headaches from all the time in front of the computer, while SRRHS Student Body President Frederick Schrader mentioned how online learning prop­agated cheating and described the positives of in-person on students’ social and emotional well-being.

“Many say that high school is the greatest four years of their life, and this virus has already ripped away over half a year. Please do not let it take away any more,” he said.

Two parents said teachers who wanted to work from home should find another job or take a leave of absence during this time and come back when COVID-19 was a thing of the past.

“It’s a mistake to think this is scared teachers versus students,” said Pete Sanders, who has been involved with the district for over 40 years. “Infection that leads to death is irreversible. A death on your watch is irreversible.”

His wife, Deb Sanders, in her 41st year of teaching in the district, also agreed that schools should be closed for in-person learning for now, noting that teachers are now having to do more “mask and social distance policing” than actual teaching, and it was having a negative affect on both teachers and students.

Yavapai County Community Health Services Director Leslie Horton attended the meeting virtu­ally and spoke on the big screen after the community members. She said that while COVID poses a big risk, she thinks school is still the safest place for students to be, if all the correct precautions are taken.

She also said that Sedona’s per capita positivity rate was a little lower than neighboring Verde Valley areas, even with the larger number of tourists, with 27 new cases over the last four days in Sedona and six in the Village of Oak Creek.

“We urge schools to continue to stay open as long as possible unless there is a staff shortage or some­thing else,” she said.

The board ultimately agreed with Horton, voting 4-0 to keep the campuses open in the hybrid option with any student allowed to work virtually. Board member Karl Wiseman was absent.

There was also agreement to have the first few days back from winter break, starting Jan. 4, be virtual-only, as the district did after Thanksgiving break to help stop potential spread of COVID-19 that could have been spread over the break. The exact number of days will be determined at a later time, with two days and five days being possible options.