(From the Diamond R-4 School District)We had several students come off of our active cases list this week and currently have three confirmed active student cases (three students at Diamond High School with one student coming off quarantine tomorrow and the other two on Friday) and one High School teacher case (who completes quarantine this weekend) of COVID-19 in our district that have been reported.
Individuals who were in close contact with the three students and teacher who tested positive have been notified to quarantine for 14 days. The district is taking all precautions consistent with the Newton County Health Department requirements and recommendations and they are also monitoring all of our quarantined students.
Reminder that all Diamond R-IV students and staff need to bring their face masks to school and mask up if they are on the move at any point during the day or cannot stay socially distanced (6 feet away from everyone) and this includes on the bus.
We were notified late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) that the Newton County Health Department has approved a new set of procedures for quarantined students to allow them to return to school with a list of five conditions that have to be met and maintained in order for close contact quarantined students to remain in school and to attend or participate in extracurricular activities.
This is great news for our students and families as it will allow our quarantined students who do not have symptoms to remain in school for in-person learning but also help keep the rest of our students and staff safe. The conditions and the letter from the Newton County Health Department explaining the new policy is attached at the following link at https://www.diamondwildcats.org/vnews/display.v/ART/5f62491b29e96
As you all are aware due to the amount of students quarantined this past week at Diamond High School due to contact tracing we had to move into Phase 4 (no students in-person and all HS students work virtually from home AMI-X) with only our High School students started yesterday, Tuesday, September 15.
We had initially planned to stay in Phase 4 through next Wednesday, September 23, but due to this new set of quarantine procedures it will allow us to only stay in Phase 4 through this Friday, September 18th and all of our Diamond R-IV students will return to school in Phase 1 on Tuesday, September 22nd (Monday, September 21st is a scheduled AMI-X calendar day for all of our students).
During this Phase 4 closure we already canceled our home varsity football game for this Friday, our JV football game for Monday, September 21st, rescheduled our volleyball matches (including senior night) and all high school practices and activities for this week.
Our Crowder students will also continue to work virtually the rest of this week with their Crowder teachers and return to Crowder in-person starting Monday, September 21st and a bus will be provided as normal and this includes on the bus.
Due to privacy requirements, we cannot release the names of the students and teacher or details that may identify them.
We are continuing to monitor this situation and will provide additional information as needed. We have created Diamond R-IV COVID-19 Dashboard that will be updated regularly at the following link at https://www.diamondwildcats.org/vnews/display.v/ART/5f5fb29f65d97
All Diamond R-IV students and staff need to bring their face masks to school and mask up if they are on the move at any point during the day or cannot stay socially distanced (6 feet away from everyone). We ask parents to continue to monitor your child for symptoms daily and keep your child home if they show any of the following symptoms:
● Fever of 100.4 or chills
● Cough
● Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
● Fatigue
● Muscle or body aches
● Headache
● New loss of taste or smell
● Sore throat
● Congestion or runny nose
● Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
Information about monitoring for symptoms and the rest of our Re-entry and Reopening Guidelines can be found on the COVID tab on our website at https://www.diamondwildcats.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/COVID
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