JUNCTION HILL C-12
SCHOOL RE-ENTRY PLAN
Jefferson City School District reopening plan was recommended after review by health professionals as a plan that addressed the many issues/concerns for reopening schools.
This reopening plan was created based on the reopening plan of Jefferson City School and other school districts to meet the needs of Junction Hill School. This plan is subject to change without notice as more information is gained through this pandemic process.
Thank you for your flexibility, understanding, and thank you for standing with us Hornet Strong!
KEY PRIORITIES
As we return for the 2020-2021 school year, the Junction HIll School District will work to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for students and staff. We believe that the rewards of a strong education are worth the risks involved, and we recognize that in-seated education carries with it a higher risk.
Our plan for returning to school is built around the following foundational priorities:
• Increased Sanitation Efforts
• Social Distancing
• Staff & Student Screening Measures
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Limited Visitor Access to Buildings
• Virtual Education Options
• Procedures for COVID-19 Infections
INCREASED SANITATION -
• Junction Hills School Custodial Team members will thoroughly clean high touch surfaces throughout the building on an ongoing rotation throughout the day, including bathrooms, water bottle fill stations, doorknobs, entrance/exit handles, handrails, walls, etc.
• At a minimum, classrooms and other common spaces will be cleaned and disinfected any time a new group of students accesses a new area.
• Bus drivers will undergo sanitation training, and all school buses will be thoroughly sanitized before and after each route.
• Teachers and administrators will educate students on hygiene practices and encourage students to follow through with hygiene practices on a regular basis. An emphasis on both at home and at school hygiene will be presented including:
● Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
● Avoid contact with people who are sick and stay home if you are sick.
● Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are unavailable.
● Cough or sneeze into your elbow or tissue. Throw the tissue in the trash. Wash hands or use hand sanitizer.
● Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Cleaning materials and hand sanitizers will be placed in every classroom. Staff and students will be expected to support cleaning and disinfecting of classroom surfaces and supplies as needed.
• Students and staff will have scheduled times throughout the day to wash/sanitize hands and supplies.
•Students are highly encouraged to bring their own personal water bottles to be refilled at bottle stations.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Junction Hill will strive to create an environment that supports health guidelines without interrupting the education of our students.
• The goal is to limit exposure to as few other students and staff members as possible.
Staff and students must do their very best to maintain as much distance as possible from others within school buildings.
• Assigned seats will be given within classrooms, when occupying common areas, and for riding the bus. Additionally, small groups will be utilized to the extent possible. This will assist with contact tracing efforts if needed. Students will go immediately to designated classrooms upon arriving at school and will not congregate in hallways or common areas.
• In order to prevent students from congregating in hallways or common areas, class change procedures have been altered. In some cases, teachers may change classes instead of students. In other cases, the bell schedule has been changed, and grades will be dismissed in steps to minimize the number of students in the hallways. In grades 5-8, classes, schedules, and lockers have been organized in such a way that a cohort of students has minimal contact with another cohort of students throughout the day.
• Modifications to meals will be made as needed (for example, some students may eat meals in the classroom, some students may eat meals in other common areas to limit the number of students in the cafeteria). If eating meals in the cafeteria, the number of students will be limited and students will be seated with fellow students from their small groups to minimize exposure.
• Desks in classrooms will be spaced as far apart as possible to allow for social distancing, non-essential furniture will be removed for sanitation purposes.
• Seating charts will be required in classrooms and on the bus to limit exposure and for contact tracing purposes in conjunction with local health departments if needed.
• In-school gatherings such as assemblies, rallies, school parties, dances etc. will not be held unless social distance can be maintained and students can remain with limited small groups.
• Academics are considered a non-voluntary component of a student's education while co-curricular activity participation (including sports) is voluntary. This approach will drive our planning and preparation for extra/co-curricular guidance when released.
• Parents who can transport their students to/from school are encouraged to do so to help minimize the number of students riding the bus and allow for minimized contact.
• Social distancing will be enforced throughout the school day. Students and staff are expected to avoid close interactions and minimize exposure to every extent possible.
• Parents should discuss the importance of social distancing with their students prior to the start of school. It will be difficult to ensure students maintain distance, but it is necessary for staff and students to understand the importance of doing so to prevent exposure.
SCHOOL BUS
Masks will not be required to begin the school year, however, this may change from day to day as local cases of Covid are confirmed. Masks are CDC recommended and encouraged but may become mandated/required as the situation warrants.
Modifications to bus loading and unloading procedures will be made, hand sanitizer will be available to students for boarding and unloading from the bus, and students will be assigned seats to limit exposure. Siblings and other students living in the same household will be seated together to preserve social distancing among groups of students.
● Students in grades K-12 will be encouraged/recommended to wear a mask while riding the bus.
STAFF & STUDENT SCREENING MEASURES
• Students and adults who have come into close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 should closely monitor for any COVID-19 symptoms and should follow all instructions given by the local health department related to contact tracing. When students are kept home due to illness, a representative of the school will ask additional screening & entry questions regarding symptoms to confirm whether COVID-19 is a factor.
• Perfect attendance will not be incentivized by Junction Hill in 2020-2021. Learning opportunities will be provided for all students who stay home due to illness.
• Student temperatures will be taken before entering the school or school bus each day. These temperatures are to be taken with no touch forehead thermal readers or thermal cameras when available. Anyone experiencing a temperature at/above 100.4 will immediately be moved to a designated sick area within the school building to minimize any further contact with others until they are able to go home. Here they will be given a mask to wear as they await departure.
• Students and staff who are sent home with a temperature must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications and may return to school if accompanied by a doctor's note with a diagnosis not related to a respiratory illness, influenza or COVID-19 (such as pink eye, strep throat, ear infection, etc.).
• Students and staff must be fever free for 72 hours without the
use of fever reducing medications if not accompanied by a doctor's note for a diagnosis. Fever reducing medications include Tylenol, Acetaminophen, Motrin, Ibuprofen etc.
STAFF & STUDENT SCREENING MEASURES
Students and staff who experience symptoms related to COVID-19 should not come to school.
COVID-19 symptoms include the following:
● HIGH FEVER OR HEADACHE
● NEW CONFUSION, INABILITY TO WAKE OR STAY AWAKE
● RUNNY NOSE, LOSS OF TASTE OR SMELL
● BLUISH LIPS OR FACE
● COUGHING OR SORE THROAT
● PERSISTENT CHEST PAIN OR PRESSURE
● CHILLS
● SHORTNESS OF BREATH
● FATIGUE
● NAUSEA, VOMITING, OR DIARRHEA
● MUSCLE OR BODY ACHES
Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
● Masks will not be required to begin the school year, however, this may change from day to day as local cases of Covid are confirmed. Masks are CDC recommended and encouraged but may become mandated/required as the situation warrants.
● Students in grades 6-8 will be encouraged/recommended to wear a mask or face covering in any instance where social distance cannot be maintained (such as passing periods in the hallways, lunch lines, etc).
● Staff members will be expected/required to wear a mask or face covering in any instance where social distance cannot be maintained for 15 minutes or more.
● Students in grades K-12 will be encouraged/recommended to wear a mask while riding the bus.
• The use of masks or face coverings will not be prohibited in any instances throughout the school day where a student or staff member chooses to wear them.
• Due to possible medical related concerns, we understand that not all staff and students will be able to wear masks for long periods of time. Exceptions can be evaluated with building administrators and school nursing staff.
• Existing student and staff dress codes will apply to face coverings that are worn.
LIMITED VISITOR ACCESS TO BUILDINGS
• In order to minimize the exposure of all students and staff to others outside of their assigned small groups, non-essential visitors and parents will not be permitted beyond the secure entryway of the school.
• Open house and Parent teacher conferences will be held but will look different in 2020-2021. Teachers will schedule families in a staggered manner to minimize contact.
Title I family meeting night will look different in 2020-2021. It will be held without a concert or banquet. End of year events such as academic banquet and graduation may be held in a conservative manner that minimizes Covid risks. Details will be released as these events approach (assuming a status quo of the Covid situation).
• Any essential visitors who do enter the building will be required to enter through the main entrance, requested to wear a mask while in the building, scanned by the thermal temperature camera or no touch infrared thermal readers, and will be tracked in a visitor log to include symptom screening questions, date and time of visit, where in the building they travel to, and which, if any, students or staff they have contact with.
• These restrictions will apply during the school day. When afterschool events occur in the gym, social distancing will be encouraged, and unused parts of the school will be closed off and inaccessible to minimize exposure.
VIRTUAL and AT HOME EDUCATION
In-seat education is viewed by Junction Hill to be superior to virtual instruction. However, some students and families may not feel comfortable sending their students to receive in-seat instruction due to elevated risk factors or compromised immunity. Junction Hill school has options for families such as this. One option includes virtual learning. Families may apply to participate in virtual education via Launch, an online education platform Junction Hill has access to.
Launch has a rigorous K-12 curriculum that is aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards, is currently used by over 270 districts across the State of Missouri, and is staffed by certified educators who live and work in partner districts.
For more information about Launch, families can speak with Junction Hill school administration. Enrollment for Launch in the fall 2020 semester is time sensitive. If you are interested please contact school administration.
• Students approved for virtual education will have a 14 calendar day window to transfer back to in seat instruction if so desired. Otherwise, they must remain in the Launch program for the duration of the semester for which they were approved.
• Students approved for virtual education for the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year can return to in-seat enrollment for the second semester if so desired or may remain virtual for the duration of the school year.
• If a student is not successful with Launch, they may not be approved for future semesters.
• If a student is deemed to be in a high risk category for a small window of time (taking care of an infirmed family member) other options may be pursued including homebound education. Details of homebound education are developed on a case by case basis and often look different from student to student. Homebound education may require attendance of a small group instruction on campus or home visits from educational staff. On-line homebound instruction is also allowed in some cases. Homebound logistics will be arranged directly with the student's school staff.
• Students approved for virtual education will be issued a
technology device by Junction Hill School for use with Launch.
• Students approved for virtual education will not be able to participate in extracurricular activities.
• Students on quarantine will be expected to maintain academic status. We understand that a student on Covid Quarantine may be in any state from very sick to asymptomatic. Students who are feeling too ill are not expected to keep up with their studies. Asymptomatic students, including those who have recovered from Covid, are expected to keep up with their studies. Junction Hill provides opportunities for these students.
• Teachers will make use of online resources including google classroom to provide instruction and assignments for their students. These assignments will be graded and scores will be used to assess student learning. Junction Hill has increased its bevy of online opportunities. Students will have access to an online library with thousands of books through MYON, online curriculum and assessments with Moby Max, and targeted reading instruction with AR, Star Reading, and Star Early Lit. Instructors will explain these resources to students at the beginning of the school year.
• Students with no internet access will be given other opportunities. In some cases, a flash drive loaded with instructional resources and assignments will be sent home. Families may be able to access google chrome books to use with the flash drives to provide the same capabilities as the internet would otherwise provide. Families will be able to use the schools wifi by parking their cars outside of the school (after school hours) and using an unblocked visitor internet connection.
PROCEDURES FOR COVID-19 INFECTIONS
Students or staff who display symptoms of COVID-19 while at school will be provided a disposable mask and moved to a designated sick area within the school building to minimize contact with others until they go home.
Contact tracing is a core disease control activity. It has been used for decades to slow or stop the spread of infectious disease. Contact tracing is used by health departments to prevent the spread of infectious disease. In general, contact tracing involves identifying people who have an infectious disease (cases) and people who they came in contact with (contacts) and working with them to interrupt disease spread.
If Junction Hill Schools receives official notification of a student or staff member testing positive for COVID-19 who attended school the day they test positive or exhibited Covid symptoms at school, the school or classroom impacted (or area determined to be impacted) could be closed for the remainder of the day, or longer if necessary, to allow for contact tracing by the local health department. This includes asking people with COVID-19 to isolate and their contacts to quarantine at home voluntarily. If a building is closed, all
school activities at that building will be cancelled or rescheduled.
• Students and staff who are identified as a close contact of the positive case will not be permitted to return to school until after they have been released by the local health department. This includes siblings and other household members.
• Students and staff who are not identified as a close contact of the positive case will be permitted to return to school after contact tracing by the local health department is complete.
• Students and staff may be contacted to assist with contact tracing efforts, review assigned seating charts, and to determine which individuals the positive case had contact with while contagious.
While local health departments are not permitted to share the names of positive COVID-19 cases unless permission is granted by the individual, if the school district becomes aware of an official positive COVID-19 case that could impact a school building, staff and families will be notified as soon as possible.
Note: Multiple sources were used in the compilation of this document.