A Kansas middle school teacher created what is thought to be the first national database to track the effects of COVID-19 on K-12 schools, which has now chronicled the spread of the virus in more than 700 schools .
What began as a personal project to assassinate their fears about students returning to class became a database with audiences, staffed by about 35 volunteers, Olathe High School theater director Alata Morris told The Washington Post.
Morris told the Post that she believes it is the first national database on school outbreaks. It includes schools in 41 states, as of Monday afternoon.
“We knew this was going to happen, and we tried to make it known that it was going to happen, but seeing it on paper was, I think, the eye-opening part of it,” Morris told the Post. “It’s just that awful moment when you open it and just keep rolling and you want, ‘How can there be so many?'”
The Google Spreadsheet – which is updated every five minutes – chronicles total known cases, suspected cases, quarantined individuals, and deaths at each school reported by school officials or handled by local news outlets. Viewers can follow a link to a form to submit articles or announcements from school districts.
Schools have emerged as a flashpoint in the pandemic, with the Trump administration urging schools to reopen, while teachers’ unions have raised concerns about safety. Negotiations in Congress over a relief bill that is expected to include for schools to reopen safely have been halted.
Several school outbreaks reported on the spreadsheet are already well documented, such as 23 cases at North Paulding High School in Georgia, where multiple people tested positive for a viral photo of students walking the hallways without masks, and more than 100 quarantine students in Mississippi’s Corinth School District.
However, Morris’ database examines the extent of the problems facing schools nationwide when they begin opening next month.
Morris told the Post that she did not intend to print a particular political message with the database.
“My goal is to keep people healthy and save lives and provide data that can hopefully help people make data-informed decisions for the future of their schools,” Morris said.
Morris will begin teaching her classes on Tuesday – which she decided to keep online – leaving her less time to update the database, according to the Post. She said she hopes another individual or organization will take over updating the spreadsheet.
.
