USD 333 takes actions related to reopening of schools

With students in Unified School District 333 set to return to the classrooms for the first time since last March, the board of education approved plans and procedures related to the reopening of schools during its regular meeting Monday night.
Classes for USD 333 students will begin on August 19.
In an effort to offer a quality education experience to students in an environment they are comfortable in during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the board of education approved the #CONSTRONG Reopening plan.
The #CONSTRONG plan provides guidance for both the on-site learning option for students and the Family Choice Remote Learning Option.
The board also approved the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) Remote Learning Assurances document.
By approving the assurances document, the school district indicates it will ensure that remote learning approximates the student learning experience taking place in the on-site classroom.
Also approved by the board during the meeting was the USD 333 Crisis Mitigation: COVID-19 Exposure Prevention, Preparedness and Response Plan for Education Institutions.
The #CONSTRONG reopening plan was developed by key community members, educators, parents and health professionals and focuses on different learning environments for the 2020-2021 school year.
USD 333 will determine the learning environment status based on local health orders.
The instructional design of the plan outlines two options for families: send kids to school in the district/health official learning environment or enroll for Family Choice Remote Learning.
An overview of the 54-page plan states that through on-site learning, students will continue to build relationships with peers and staff and that the district will provide a safe environment where students will succeed.
While the district will determine if students will be in an on-site environment, a hybrid environment or a remote environment, parents will have the opportunity to choose the Family Choice Remote Learning delivery model.
By choosing the remote learning options, students will be learning from home and not entering the school building at all.
Materials to be used for remote learning will include Chromebooks, board-adopted curriculum, online textbooks, Google Classroom learning management system and Seesaw digital portfolio.
Daily class attendance is required for the remote learning option and truancy will be reported.
Students who opt for remote learning will have the option to either return to on-site learning at the beginning of the second semester, or enroll again in remote learning.
There will be no food service provided for students participating in remote learning, and they will not be able to participate in extra-curricular activities or athletics.
In offering the remote learning option to students it was necessary for USD 333 to approve the KSDE Remote Learning Assurances.
As of Monday night, the district had 12 elementary school students, four middle schools students and 10 high school students enrolled in the remote learning option.
For the 2020-2021 school year only, the assurances state that a remote learning student is a student regularly enrolled in the school district he or she would normally have attended on-site, but the student is attending remotely because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and curriculum and instruction are prepared, provided and/or supervised by local teachers and staff in the student’s home.
By having superintendent of schools Quentin Breese and board president Mark Nordell sign the assurances agreement, USD 333 assures to the KSDE it will follow the requirements put in place to ensure remote learning approximates the student learning experience taking place in the on-site classroom.
Those assurances include that remote learning curriculum and instruction will coincide with each student’s on-site classroom to ensure that when the student returns to the on-site classroom it will be a seamless transition. Remote students will be assessed on the same standards and competencies as on-site students using all progress, academic and social-emotional monitoring assessments as on-site students.
USD 333 assures that remote learners will have at least one meaningful daily connection with a local teacher. In addition, remote learning students will have ready access to all local content teachers throughout each week and student questions will be answered within 24 hours during school days, preferably the same school day if possible.
Each remote learner's academic progress will be monitored daily by local teachers to ensure that when the student is able to return to the on-site classroom that he or she is able to make a seamless transition.
USD 333 also assures that each remote learner’s daily activity logs are made available to local teachers to assist monitoring their academic progress. Daily logs will also be made available to KSDE auditors.
The USD 333 Crisis Mitigation: COVID-19 Exposure Prevention, Preparedness and Response Plan for Education Instructions outlines the steps that every staff member and student should take to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
The plan, based on information from the Center for Disease Control, Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Kansas State Department of Education, describes how to prevent student and staff exposure to coronavirus, protective measures to be taken in the classrooms, personal protective equipment and work practice controls to be used, cleaning and disinfecting procedures and what to do if a staff member or student become sick.
It is stated in the plan that all teachers and staff in classrooms will be required to wear masks. Students are encouraged to wear masks.
Reusable masks will be provided to staff members by the district.
If a district employee or student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms they must remain at home until symptom free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines. The district will also require an employee that reports to work with symptoms to return home until they are symptom free for 24 hours. To the extent practical, employees are required to obtain a doctor's note clearing them to return to work.
An employee or student that tests positive for COVID-1-9 will be directed to self-quarantine away from schools. Employees or students who are symptom free may return to school when at least 10 days have passed since the date of his or her first positive test.
Employees or students exhibiting symptoms, that test positive and are directed to care for themselves or stay at home, may return to school when at least 72 hours have passed since recovery and 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
If an employee or student tests positive and has been hospitalized, they may return to school when directed to do so by the medical provider. The district will require an employee to provide documentation clearing their return to work.
The district will investigate co-workers or students who may have had close contact with a confirmed positive employee or student in the prior 14 days and direct those that have had close contact to self-quarantine for 14 days from the last date of close contact with the carrier.
If an employee or student learns that he or she has come into close contact with a confirmed positive individual outside of the workplace, they must alert a principal or supervisor of the close contact and also self-quarantine for 14 days from the last date of close contact with the carrier.
In personnel matters, the board approved the resignation of Alison Widen as a fifth grade teacher at the Concordia Middle School.
The board also approved the hiring of Kylie Snavely to replace Widen.
The use of district facilities by outside entities, such as Concordia Recreation, was discussed by the board.
Breese recommended limiting access to the facilities to district students and programs only to protect the academic environment.
“Our purpose is to educate kids,” Breese said.
Nordell said that the board would defer on the matter to the best judgement of the administration.