Carl Junction R-1 adopts COVID safety plan

The Carl Junction R-1 Board of Education adopted the following COVID safety plan during a meeting Monday night:

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan 

Carl Junction R-1 School District 

2021-2022 Operating Procedures 

School Board Approved August 9, 2021 

Hygiene 

• Staff will be trained on healthy hygiene practices consistent with the CDC and teach these practices to students. 

-Avoid touching face, eyes, nose, and mouth. 

-Wash hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after using the restroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. 

-Cover your cough by coughing into your elbow. 

-Stay home if you are sick. 

• Alcohol-based hand sanitizer will be available in classrooms, offices, and buses for use if soap and water are not available. 

• Custodial and maintenance staff will ensure that supplies are available to support healthy hygiene practices. 

• The wearing of masks is recommended and encouraged by all students and staff inside school buildings. When masks are worn, they should cover both the mouth and nose. 

• The wearing of masks is required on all school transportation. 

• Classroom doors will be propped open as much as possible to allow for ventilation. 

• Cohort grouping of students will be used to the extent possible. 

• Students should carry their own clear water bottle to be used with the water bottle filling stations provided by the school. 

• Parents are responsible for teaching healthy hygiene practices to their children based on the screening guidelines below. 

• Unique health concerns will be addressed as part of the student’s IEP or 504 Plan. 

Health Screening 

• Staff screening consistent with CDC 

-Staff members should complete self-screening, including temperature checks, at home prior to school arrival. 

-Staff will be provided a thermometer at school for use as needed. 

-A staff screening location will be identified in each building. 

-Staff members with a temperature greater than 100.4, symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or presumed or confirmed exposure to an infected person may not be on campus. 

• Student screening consistent with CDC 

-Parents or caregivers should monitor their children for signs of infectious illness every day. Students who are sick should not attend school in-person. Parents or caregivers should review this checklist each morning before the child arrives at school: 

■ Symptoms- If your child has any of the following symptoms indicating a possible illness that may decrease the student's ability to learn and also put them at risk for spreading illness to others, students should remain at home. Please check your child for these Symptoms: 

● Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth 

● Sore throat 

● NEW uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (for students with chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline.) 

● Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain 

● New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever 

■ Close Contact/Potential Exposure: 

● Had close contact (within 3 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes) with a person with confirmed COVID-19 

-Nurses will have the ability to create isolation areas as needed. 

Return to School after Exclusion 

• Once a student or employee is excluded from the school environment, they may return once they complete the quarantine/isolation requirements consistent with the CDC/local health department. 

• Students and staff may also return if they are approved to do so in writing by the student’s or staff member’s health care provider. 

-Staff members who are required to quarantine are expected to provide daily instruction and sub plans from home to support the substitute, students, and families. 

-Students who are required to quarantine are expected to continue their school work either online or with paper/pencil documents provided by the school/classroom teacher to the extent possible.

Instruction During Interruption of In-Person Education 

• Teachers will provide instruction to isolated or quarantined students who are not able to attend seated school. 

• Instruction and Monitoring will be provided daily through electronic or paper/pencil documents. 

• Students will return assignments either electronically as necessary or by paper/pencil as often as possible or upon return to school. 

• Guidance counselors and the school social worker are available for students as needed for social, emotional, and mental health matters. 

Medical Inquiries 

• If a parent tells a school staff member that a student is ill, the school staff may ask the parent whether the student is exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19. 

• School staff members may take the temperature of students, employees, and visitors to school property at any time during the school day or in situations where there is reason to believe that the person may be ill. 

• If someone is sneezing or coughing, he or she may be excluded to minimize the spread of bodily fluids, even if the person is not exhibiting signs of COVID-19. 

• If a person is obviously ill, school staff members may make additional inquiries and may exclude the person from school property. 

• Teachers will be given direction on when to send students to the nurse. 

• Contact Tracing 

-In the event of a positive COVID-19 case, trained school staff will assist the local health department in contract tracing. 

-Families of students who should quarantine will be notified by the County Health Department.

Physical Distancing 

• Physical distancing will be consistent with CDC guidelines. 

• Students who sit at tables will not sit directly across from other students, when possible. 

• Students will be encouraged to maintain physical distancing, 3 feet recommended, while on the district campus. 

• Sharing of materials will be avoided when possible. 

Cleaning and Disinfecting 

• Hand sanitizer dispensers are installed at main entrances, main offices, nurse’s offices, restrooms, locker rooms, and wherever building administration deem necessary. 

• There will be age appropriate restroom signage stressing the importance of hand washing. 

• Placement of plexiglass barriers in all building offices. 

• All classrooms will have supplies for cleaning of student desks and highly touched areas in classroom. 

• Restrooms will be disinfected daily. 

• High touch and common areas will be disinfected daily. 

Visitors 

• Parent, volunteer, and visitor access to school buildings will be regulated. 

• The areas the visitor will go throughout the building will be documented. 

• Visitors should contact the building by phone, email, etc., to schedule meetings. 

• Parents needing to pick their children up early should call the office ahead of time for instructions.

Vaccinations 

• The district will work with local health providers to make available access to vaccinations. 

• If needed, student and staff leave is provided to receive vaccinations. 

Plan Revisions 

• The Plan was initially created with input from all stakeholders: school staff, parents, local health department professionals, and Board of Education. 

• The Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan (SRCSP) will be reviewed by stakeholders every six months as needed. 

• If requested, the Plan will be made available for other languages or to those who employ the oral tradition