USD 333 working on plan for start of school

The Local Emergency Preparedness Committee (LEPC) resumed its monthly meeting at the Cloud County Courthouse on Monday.
The LEPC had been meeting meeting weekly via Zoom during the statewide stay-at-home order.
James Quillen, LEPC director, reported that there were no new cases of COVID-19 among Cloud County residents. It has now been 13 days since a positive case was identified in Cloud County. There are no current hospitalizations among active cases.
Quillen reported that 104 counties in Kansas, including Cloud County, still have emergency declarations resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Quillen also reported that Cloud County has received $1.75 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES Act) from the federal government, via Governor Laura Kelly's Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) fund. The money is to be used to support educational, municipal, and community entities within the county.
The Cloud County Commission approved an allocation of $509,046.42 for county services. The city of Concordia will receive $293,065.74.
Quillen said that after the funds are distributed to all municipalities and schools, there will be approximately $437,000 remaining. A committee has been formed to discuss ways to best distribute the remaining balance. Earmarking some of the funds for area businesses is one of the options to be discussed.
The LEPC is working on finalizing the county's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The federal government has extended the submission deadline until September 2021, but Quillen said Cloud County is well on its way to having a finalized plan. Two important areas under consideration are the establishment of an operations center for the county during a disaster, and a mobile operations center.
"One of our goals," Quillen said, "is to put together a community response team in each of our county communities."
Another area of LEPC planning involves the establishment of designated shelters in the county during a natural disaster. Cloud County currently has 3 designated sites in Concordia - the public schools - and Clifton-Clyde High School is also a designated shelter. Talks are underway to reestablish Cloud County Community College (CCCC) as a designated site.
The EOP will also include designated debris sites within the county where debris from a natural disaster like a tornado, fire or flood may be temporarily stored.
Caesar Wood, the Director of Auxiliary Services at CCCC, reported that the college is currently planning to begin school on August 19. International students and those students who are from states or counties on the quarantine list will be required to enter a 14-day quarantine.
Wood said CCCC intends to hold classes from August 17 to November 30. From November 30 to December 13, all students will then finish their classes for the current school term online.
"In this way," Wood said, "when students leave for the Thanksgiving holiday, they will not physically return to campus until January of 2021."