COVID-19 ExposureLetter
“How and when students return to school will ultimately be up to each district or charter school working with parents and their local health districts. It is essential that we support that flexibility as we provide guidance,” Superintendent Ybarra said. “Communities across the state will be in different stages of the pandemic when school reopens this fall, and districts will choose the approach that best serves their students, staff and parents. That could mean split or rotating schedules, a phased-in opening, online or blended learning, or traditional in-person instruction.” Superintendent Ybarra
Purpose
This webpage was prepared as a guide and communication to the schools, teachers, staff, students, and parents of Salmon River School District 243 with support and guidance from public health resources to assist school administrators and leadership teams in developing pandemic plans for their respective schools. The district reopening plan is available through the following link:
Background
The current coronavirus is COVID-19, which started in China and has spread to several countries around the world resulting in the first quarantines of people in over 50 years in some countries. According to the CDC, spread of COVID-19 is primarily via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, which is similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread (Retrieved from https://www.gadoe.org). COVID-19 symptoms start with a fever, followed by a dry cough and, sometimes, shortness of breath. The severity of the disease ranges from flu-like to pneumonia-like, and hospitalization is often necessary — although there is no approved treatment or vaccine just yet.
As a part of our community, the school district will do its part to provide a safe environment by following the reopening plan so students can learn to the best of their abilities. However, it is important to note that parents, students, and other community members must follow safety guidelines to minimize the spread of Covid-19, as well as other communicable diseases in order for us to continue to teach in our buildings, offer sports events, and hold other school activities.
CDC recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, including:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Monitor your family and student’s health daily before sending them to school
- Stay home if you are sick
- Keep students home if they are sick or exhibit symptoms of Covid-19 (fever, cough, runny nose or congestion, headache, fatigue, etc.)
- Communicate with your school if your family has been exposed to Covid-19
At this time, our community has not reached community spread of Covid-19. Idaho County has had minimal documented cases.
Click on the links below for more information
Idaho Department of Education Reopening Webpage
Public Health Idaho North Central District
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
SR Guidelines for Sports Events 2020
Dear Savage Families,
A new school year is upon us. Teachers and staff are busy preparing for another great year at Salmon River; we can’t wait to once again have students in the building and in classrooms engaged in high-level learning! Our top priorities are the safety of our students, staff, and visitors and providing a top-notch education for our students.
Criteria Used to Determine the Category Status of Our District:
- Using the Idaho State Board of Education reopening guidelines, we have been working with the North Central Health to “identify our level of Transmission Risk” as we look to reopen our schools. The criteria that the health department uses is the number of new daily cases per 10,000 people or other indications of risk.
- Green = less than 1 new case per day on a seven-day average.
- Yellow = 1 to 2.5 new cases per day on a seven-day average.
- Orange = 2.5 to 5 new cases per day on a seven-day average.
- Red = more than 5 new cases per day on a seven-day average.
Currently Idaho county’s seven-day average for new cases is less than 1 per 10,000 people.
We are pleased to announce that we will be reopening our schools at category 1 of our reopening plan on August 25th.
The Nuts and Bolts:
- Classes run Monday-Thursday. All students will attend in-person classes each day.
- Parents not wanting to send students may contact school administration for options.
- Students will wash/sanitize their hands when entering the building and before and after they eat.
- Students will not share laptops (1:1 computing). Sharing of other materials will be restricted.
- Social distancing will be maintained as much as possible.
- Masks not required but available
- Sanitation stations around campus
- Bring own water bottle—drinking fountains only for water bottle refills
- Classes ventilated with HEPA filters and/or outside air
- Due to the addition of an additional teacher at the elementary school the elementary students will be bused to the Jr/Sr High for lunch
What We Ask of You:
- Don’t send your student to school sick.
- Students who are sick or become sick will be sent home.
- Students need to remain at home for 24 hours without fever prior to returning.
- Follow safety guidelines to minimize the spread of COVID-19. If there is an increase of cases in our school and community we risk losing in-person school as well as athletic seasons and other school activities.
Busing:
- Buses will be sanitized daily.
- Buses will load from back to front and will unload from front to back.
- Siblings will sit together.
- Please let your child(ren) know this prior to the first day of school and reinforce these expectations. If you are able to bring your student to school, please do so.
Back to School Night:
- Monday, August 31, 2020 (TBD)*
- Familiarize parents/guardians with Google Classroom and other Google tools in addition to other pertinent information.
- All teachers will utilize Google Classroom as our learning platform
- Teachers have engaged in 15 hours of professional development in the use of Google Classroom and the Google Suite of Education Tools
Disclaimer:
- Safety of our students, staff, and visitors are a priority as we reopen our schools. We will do everything in our power to provide a safe, emotional and physical, environment for our students to learn. With that said, we cannot guarantee that someone associated with the school will not contract the COVID virus.
Our entire reopening plan can be found at jsd243.org and on the jsd243 Facebook page.