Attachments

20200723-145929-COVID 19 reentry plan.pdf

Gasconade County R-2 board members on Monday reviewed and approved with a 6-0 vote a back-to-school plan that includes three options of regular, online, and full-distance learning for students.

Superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner presented the board with a 15-page report during the July 20 meeting that began with re-entry options.

“Option one is normal school,” Garner told the board. “That’s a full in-person schedule with precautions. Option two is interim learning for if a student gets sick or has to go into quarantine. Option three is long-term distance learning for students during a school closure or those who choose to attend school online.”

For option three, students or parents must notify the building principal between Aug. 3-5 if they choose to participate in distance learning.

“For kindergarten through eighth grade they have to commit to distance learning a quarter at a time and for grades nine through 12, a semester at a time,” Garner said.

For everything else, there is a protocol — starting with the Aug. 4-14 summer school re-entry plan.

Expectations

Parents are required to teach their children health habits such as washing their hands, not touching their face, using a mask and wiping down their space before sending them to school. They should also be screening their students before sending them to school where they will be screened by staff before they can enter the building.

Students should be aware of the signs of illness, should practice appropriate handwashing, good hygiene and social distancing.

“There will be no student congregations, no assemblies, assigned classes and assigned desks or physical distancing,” Garner said. “Building access will be limited.”

Parents will be limited to the main office — there will be no visiting classrooms or eating lunch with students until further notice.

“Health protocols will also be enforced,” Garner said. “Students and employees should wash their hands, sanitize when they come to school, after blowing their nose, coughing or sneezing. They should also find other ways to greet each other — no high fives or handshakes.”

A school day schedule

Students who eat breakfast in the morning should make sure to wash hands prior to eating, all surfaces should be disinfected prior to and immediately after a meal. Seating should be limited to practice social distancing as much as possible  — including in the classroom, cafeteria, outside and other designated venues.

Disposable utensils, plates and other products will be utilized to assist in reducing risk.

In class, students should have individual desks or social distance as possible. Precautions should be taken, such as assigned seats, disinfecting work stations, keeping groups together, assigned restroom breaks.

“We are trying to eliminate community resources,” Garner said.

For younger students, recess will be taken in assigned groups so children are not all on the playground at the same time. Each group will be assigned play equipment and some playground equipment may not be able to be utilized.

Off limits

Water fountains will be off and bottle fillers are being placed all over campus. Parents should call ahead. They will not be allowed in the entryway or the building during drop-offs or pickups. Bathroom breaks will be available on rotation except for in emergencies.

Physical education classes will be encouraged to go outside for classes as the weather permits. However, full school assemblies inside will not be conducted until further notice. Large classes will also be broken down into smaller groups with limited contact.

PPE — Personal Protective Equipment

Masks are recommended but will not be required.

“Parents should teach proper usage of masks before they are sent to school,” Garner said. “If a mask is disruptive to learning, teachers may reach out to parents to come to a better solution.”

Masks are recommended for individuals who are at higher risk of becoming ill, during transportation on buses when social distancing is not possible, during large gatherings of students or staff or at any point that a student or staff member feels uncomfortable or the need to wear a mask.

Returning after exclusion

If for some reason a student or staff member is suspected of having contracted, or come into contact with the novel coronavirus COVID-19, they may return to school after the following:

• If a student or staff member is experiencing two or more symptoms of COVID-19 and are untested, they may return to school when they are at least 48 hours symptom-free without the use of medication and symptoms are improved.

• No symptoms is defined as no fever for at least 48 hours without the use of medication, other symptoms have improved, and at least 10 calendar days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

• If a student or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, they may return when they no longer have a fever for 72 hours without the use of medication, other symptoms have improved and have received a negative test from the health department.

• In instances where a student or staff member has tested positive for or come into contact with a COVID-19 positive person, the school may recommend self-quarantine.

“That is — they have been within six feet or spent 15 minutes or more in the company of someone who has COVID-19,” Garner said. “Custodians will be notified and they will disinfect anywhere that person or persons have been, including desks, lockers, and workspaces.

Should symptoms come to the attention of the nurse during school hours, students who are ill will be kept in a separate room with a mask. When parents arrive, students will be walked out to the car and placed in the care of a parent.

“After school activities may be canceled or rescheduled at that point,” Garner said.

Contact tracing

“As a school, we provide information for contact tracing to the Gasconade County Health Department,” Garner said.

If a student or staff member was showing symptoms of COVID-19, but tested negative, they are still not released to come back to school.

“People who are secondary persons — as in person A has COVID, person B came into contact with person A and is in self-quarantine — person C came into contact with person B, (C) is not expected to self-quarantine per the health department,” Garner said.

The school district’s role is to help with contact tracing, implement preventative strategies and get the information out there.

Arrival and drop-off

During parent drop-off, students may not be dropped off until after 7:45 a.m., and must remain in their personal vehicle until they are at the drop-off stations in order to maintain social distancing.

“For little Dutchmen and Dutchgirls entering preschool and kindergarten, we understand the importance and assurance you want to provide in getting your child to his/her classroom,” Garner said. “However we will be asking parents to take pictures and leave their students at the door with the teachers.”

For bus drop-offs, each bus has a varied designated drop off location to minimize traffic flow through one central location. Students from both parent and bus drop off should sanitize their hands upon arrival.

“They must report directly to their classrooms,” Garner said. “They may not mingle with other classes. In their assigned classes, they will be issued assigned seats.”

Dismissal

During pick-up, parents should remain in their cars in the pickup line. Buses may also be parked at various exits to limit student flow through various doors.

On the bus, all students will have assigned seats, all buses will be disinfected after every trip, and students and drivers will wear personal protective equipment if desired.

Director Molly Steinbeck asked how they would deal with students being sent to classes at 7:45 a.m. when teachers are contracted at 8 a.m. until the end of the school day.

“We will handle that as circumstances continue to unveil themselves,” Garner said.

School closure, forced distance learning

“The district is committed to doing everything possible to stay open throughout the 2020-21 school year,” said Garner.

However, when dealing with the pandemic, situations can arise that may require the school to close.

“We will close if the government says we have to close, if multiple cases arise and we become a hotspot, if student absentee raises and we can’t stay open or if teacher and staff absenteeism prevents enough adults from being present to allow the school to stay open,” Garner said. “Should that happen, we have option three — distance learning.”

If all students are required to participate in long-term distance learning, they will be held to the same standards that the students who optioned into distance learning are held.

Requirements for distance learning in option three include students being responsible for at least 5.7 hours of educational activity daily, assignments being turned in on specified dates and times in order to receive credit, students are to be active in class discussion and need to be available Monday through Friday during class time for online lectures and lessons.

Additionally not all courses will be offered via distance learning. Students and parents would need to contact each building to find out which classes are available.

Students will still be graded according to classroom expectations, mastery of standards and syllabi expectations. Both distance learning assignments and assessments will affect students’ GPA. All Missouri Learning Standards will apply to lessons and all Handbook and technology guidelines would remain in place.

Board President Glenn Ely said after the presentation that the district’s knowledge on the subject of school re-entry and the health departments requirements were very similar. He suggested the board nominate a representative from their number to work closely with the school and provide them with updated information weekly. No action was taken on the suggestion.

(See Sports, starting on page 17, for a look at how the fall sports seasons are shaping up in the R-2 School District).