JC Schools address questions, concerns about the return to school

JEFFERSON CITY — The start of school is just around the corner for the Jefferson City School District. The district is set to start school Aug. 24.

With the start nearby, district officials have offered the opportunity for faculty, staff and families to ask questions and share concerns regarding the re-entry plan for the 2020-2021 school year.

The Jefferson City School District will be hosting a “Back to JC Schools Re-entry Q&A” session via livestream 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Participants in the session will include Superintendent Dr. Larry Linthacum, Chief of Learning Dr. Shelby Scarbrough, CFO/COO Jason Hoffman, Director of Health Services Chad Sooter, Director of Communications Ryan Burns, and Chezney Schulte from the Cole County Health Department.

Schulte said there are currently 87 active COVID-19 cases in Cole County. The positivity rate is 2.7 percent.

Basically for every 100 residents that test for COVID-19, 2.7 of those are testing positive. That is an important number to keep in mind. That is very low. Also, the number of people tested in this county are primarily those who are symptomatic because it does require a physician's order to get tested. And the physicians are really reserving those tests for individuals who are symptomatic, so that's something to consider a number that you see in a positive way.

The district is utilizing in seat learning as well as virtual.

Here's a breakdown of these top priorities:

Increased Sanitation Efforts

• At a minimum, classrooms and other common spaces will be cleaned and disinfected any time a new group of students accesses a new area.
• Handwashing stations with soap and/or hand sanitizer will be available in classrooms, commonly used areas, and at the entrances and exits of all buildings
• Students and staff will have scheduled times throughout the day to wash/sanitize hands and supplies.
• Drinking fountains will be turned off, but refillable water bottle stations can be used for individual drinking containers such as cups or bottles as outlined by each school building.
• First Student bus drivers will undergo sanitation training, and all school buses will be thoroughly sanitized before and after each route.

Social Distancing

• 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
• 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.
• Modifications within the school day will be made as needed (for example, elementary teachers for classes like art or music will come to primary classrooms to limit the amount of movement within buildings, recess times will be staggered, etc).
• 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.

Staff & Student Screening Measures

• When students are kept home due to illness, the school attendance secretary will ask additional screening and entry questions regarding symptoms to confirm whether COVID-19 is a factor.
• Perfect attendance will not be incentivized by buildings as our preference is for anyone who is sick to stay home. Learning opportunities will be provided for all students who stay home due to illness.
• Thermal cameras will be installed at the entrance of every building to scan all who enter for elevated temperatures. 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.
• Where appropriate, handheld thermal temperature readers will also be used at buildings, at additional entrances, by parent educators before meeting with families, for activities purposes, etc.
• 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

Personal Protective Equipment

• Masks are allowed but not required when students or staff can social distance
• Students in grades 6-12 will be required 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). Linthacum said if a student is defiant or unreasonable about wearing a mask, that will be address on a case-by-case basis.
• It is possible that, if local conditions warrant it, JC Schools will consider implementing stricter requirements related to face coverings.

Limited Visitor Access to Buildings

• Any essential visitors who do enter the building will be required to enter through the main entrance, required to wear a mask while in the building, scanned by the thermal temperature cameras, 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.

Virtual Education Options

• Families who do not feel comfortable sending their students to receive in-seat instruction may apply to participate in virtual education via Launch, an online education platform which was used by JC Schools for summer school this year
• 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 can participate in extracurricular activities as long as they meet MSHSAA requirements.

Procedures for COVID-19 Infections

• Students or staff who display symptoms of COVID-19 while at school will be moved to a designated sick area within the school building to minimize contact with others until they go home.
• If JC Schools receives official notification of a student or staff member testing positive for COVID-19 who attended school the day they test positive, the impacted school or classroom (or area determined to be impacted) will be closed for the remainder of the day, or longer if necessary, to allow for contact tracing by the local health department

Linthacum said if students need to be quarantined, they would continue their education online with their existing teachers.