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On Monday night, the Dewey Public Schools Board of Education approved a Bulldogger Back to School Plan for the 2020-2021 school year.

Those plans were released to the public on Tuesday morning. Following the guidance of the American Association of Pediatrics, Dewey Public Schools believe it’s imperative that their students be in attendance at school as long as there are systems in place to keep the children safe and policies in place to allow for school dismissal for both short term and long term closures if the conditions warrant it.

The District said the plans were completed on what is practical, feasible, and appropriate for a child and adolescent’s developmental stage. School leaders are committed to being flexible and nimble in responding to new information and willing to refine approaches when specific policies and procedures are not working.

The level of viral transmission in the school and throughout the community will be closely monitored as well and may call for adjustments to be made to existing plans. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly changed what school will look like next year and possibly beyond. In response to that, Dewey Public Schools has planned many changes, much of which will be outlined below.

School Site Guidelines

The individual school site guidelines included in this document explain the procedures and protocols for both elementary and secondary students as it relates to their school site. The DPS Board of Education asks that you please take time to review the site plans for your child’s school.

School Dates & Times

Dewey Public Schools understands the importance of in-person learning. Their goal is to start school with students on campus on Thursday, August 13th and close on Thursday, May 13th. The District realizes that there may be circumstances that require them to close a classroom, school site, or the entire school district due to a rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19.

In response, the District has created some school calendar flexibilities by adding 10 minutes to their school day with a daily start time of 8:20 a.m. and daily close time of 3:25 p.m. If they find themselves moving to a Distance Learning Pathway, the District will work to initiate that model as soon as possible to limit the amount of time students are removed from learning opportunities.

This will be accomplished by utilizing the Schoology Learning management system in most cases. Students and parents will be informed as quickly as possible when and how the Distance Learning Pathway will be implemented for your child.

Health Checks and Hygiene Practices

All members of Dewey Public Schools should follow this simple health guideline for the health and safety of everyone; if you're sick, please stay at home. As with normal procedures, anyone with a fever at or above 100 degrees should remain home but can return once the fever has subsided for 24 hours without the aid of medication.

Staff - In conjunction with Ascension St. John, all Dewey Public Schools staff members will be required to use the Screen & Go application on a daily basis prior to reporting for work. This will provide information to school leadership if staff members are in need of further medical advice based on symptoms prior to reporting to work.

Students - This will be an area where DPS needs great collaboration with students and their families. The District cannot feasibly perform the proper health checks for students on a daily basis without a significant disruption to the educational process. They will provide the necessary health check procedures that must be followed by the families of their students to ensure that no students are coming to school while experiencing sickness. This health check is an important daily practice and is a responsible act in keeping everyone as healthy as possible and allowing school to remain open as much as possible.

Superintendent Vince Vincent on Monday night said they are going to need the help and support from parents on this front. He said temperature checks will be the responsibility of each child's parent.

Students and staff are encouraged to practice proper hygiene. Hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent infections of all types. Teachers will teach proper hand washing techniques for younger students and set up processes for students to wash hands regularly. Dewey Public Schools is purchasing hand sanitizer stations that will be placed in every classroom on campus and in other strategic areas within each school site.

Procedures will be implemented to utilize classroom hand sanitizer stations as students enter the classroom and/or at established time intervals when hand washing is not available. Superintendent Vincent said those stations should be installed in late-July.

School Transportation & Buses

Unfortunately, proper physical distancing is not practical or feasible when students are using school transportation. The District strongly encourages families to start making plans to transport their child to/from school each day. For those families who can accomplish this, it will greatly reduce the number of students on buses for those who must rely on school transportation, thus allowing distancing measures to be put in place more often.

Superintendent Vincent said each bus driver and bus rider will be required to wear an appropriate face covering (covering both mouth and nose), including extracurricular activity group travel, for the duration of their trip. He said disposable face masks will be provided on buses for students who forget their personal face covering.

Bus drivers will attempt to create assigned seats for daily bus riders and when weather permits, all bus windows will remain open to ensure proper air flow throughout the bus. Buses will be sanitized after each trip.

Cleaning/Disinfecting Procedures

Daily Procedures - Cleaning will be more preventative in nature and will include an increase in the rotation and duration of the routine cleaning schedule. It will also include an intense focus on high touch areas such as restroom facilities, door handles, lockers (when assigned), playground equipment railings/handles, etc. during the school day. Deep cleaning procedures will be implemented daily and during after-school hours based on the current routine nighttime maintenance schedules.

Remediation Procedures - Cleaning/disinfecting will include intense focus on areas/rooms/items as identified locations where infected persons may have been present. This will include a team of school maintenance personnel being called into action at the appropriate time to perform deep cleaning procedures with appropriate materials and equipment.

Dewey Public Schools has purchased additional cleaning/disinfecting equipment to meet the demands of proper cleaning/disinfecting in a time sensitive and time efficient manner. All maintenance personnel will be required to utilize the proper personal protective equipment for their safety while performing their duties.

Visitors/Parents Entering School Buildings

While Dewey Public Schools welcomes families and visitors to their school campus, next year will force the District to operate much differently. They must greatly limit the access that visitors have to their buildings even more so than what is typical.

In addition to eliminating many of the on-campus family engagement activities they’ve become accustomed to, Superintendent Vincent said they will REQUIRE all visitors, including parents, to wear an appropriate face covering upon entering the school office.

If the parent or visitor will be entering a school building during the school day after checking in through the building office, they will be asked screening questions and have a temperature check.

Water Fountains

It will be necessary to limit access to routine use of water fountains within the school buildings. In response to this, the District encourages all students to bring their own non-breakable water containers to school. They are in the process of purchasing several water bottle filling stations to replace standard water fountains. They plan to have at least one located in most, if not all, of the school buildings. Superintendent Vincent said this could cost approximately $10,000.

Extra & Co-Curricular Activities

Activities such as marching band, vocal music, athletics, and student organizations/clubs are vital elements of their students’ school experience. Responses to COVID-19 in these environments will vary, always with a keen eye to proven practices in prevention and protection. The District will continue to monitor the ever changing guidelines from state and federal associations and apply the best precautions to take in order to protect our students involved in these activities.

What If I’m Not Comfortable With My Child Attending School On Campus To Start The Year?

While the District believes that in-person learning opportunities are the best way Dewey Public Schools can provide an appropriate and equitable education, they recognize that the Traditional Pathway to learning may not meet the needs of all students and their families during a global pandemic.

For this reason, they have developed the Bulldogger Online School (BOS) as a completely online learning option. While DPS teachers are not providing full-time direct instruction in BOS, they are committed to supporting their online students with DPS certified teachers who are tasked with connecting and providing guidance to students to ensure progression throughout the program.

Superintendent Vincent said approximately 37 students have shown potential interest in the BOS program for the upcoming school year so far.

Students must meet with their school Principal and complete a BOS agreement prior to enrollment in the program. Contact your school Principal for more information. You can read more on the programs here.

What If A School Or The District Has To Shut Down Due To COVID-19?

Based on the District's academic section of the Bulldogger Back To School Plan, students enrolled in the Traditional Learning Pathway will transition to the Distance Learning Pathway as soon as it can be deployed by the school site. All direct instruction will be provided by the students’ Traditional Learning Pathway teachers as they follow established guidelines to connect with students and provide necessary educational support.

**Students enrolled in Bulldogger Online School should be unaffected by any school closures***

Response To Possible COVID-19 Symptoms In Students/Staff While At School

If a teacher suspects that an elementary student may be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, he/she will contact the school office to arrange for an adult to come to the classroom and escort the student to the site’s isolated check station. For middle/high school students, they will be sent or escorted to the site’s isolated check station. Once the student has entered the check station the following procedures will be followed:

• School nurse will be contacted to perform appropriate health screening
• Parents will be contacted and the student will likely be sent home as soon as possible
• The school Principal and Superintendent will be informed of the incident
• The most immediate location that the student occupied will be cleared and students/staff will be relocated to continue learning opportunities
• Team of custodial staff will deep clean/disinfect last occupied location (and any other traceable locations) after staff/students have been removed
• If conditions allow, a listing of all staff/students that were relocated will be created to help with contact tracing if necessary
• The vacated room will remain vacant for at least 30 minutes after cleaning/disinfecting has been completed
• The relocation room will be cleaned/disinfected after staff/students have been allowed to return to original location
• All teachers will be required to implement assigned student seating within their classrooms. This will assist the school in following contact tracing procedures and making required quarantine decisions.

Exposures, Diagnoses, & Return To School After COVID-19

Communication to the community regarding school-related confirmed cases of COVID-19 will come from the Superintendent via all school communication resources such as; Facebook, Twitter, NotifyMe and school website.

Isolation vs. Quarantine:

• Isolation (10 days from test) separates people who are infected with a contagious disease from those who are not.
• Quarantine separates people who might have been exposed to the virus (exposure is defined as within 6 ft. of an infected person for at least 15 minutes).

The CDC recommends the following actions:

• Anyone who has had close contact with someone testing positive for COVID-19 should stay home (Quarantine) for 14 days after last known exposure and monitor for symptoms.
• Anyone who tests positive or has COVID-19 symptoms may return to school after;
• 24 hours of no fever without the aid of medication and diminished symptoms,
• AND 10 days (Isolation) from the first sign of symptoms. 
• Two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests given 24 hours apart would also indicate that a staff member or student may return to school. The negative test results should be provided to the school if the staff/student is home for fewer than 10 days.
• Anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms can return to school after 10 days have passed since the test. Two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests given 24 hours apart would also indicate that a staff member or student may return to school. The negative test results should be provided to the school if the staff/student is home for fewer than 10 days.
• As always, be sure to call the school to report your child’s absence.

ALL PLANS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS NEW INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE OR AS NEW SITUATIONS ARISE RELATED TO COVID-19.