Safe Return to In-Person Learning & Continuity of Services Plan

Ray School Board Approved                                                                    

June 21, 2021

Reviewed June 28, 2022

______________________________________________________________________

Ray School Families,

I would once again like to start this letter off with gratitude for all that you did to help us work through what was a confusing, sometimes frustrating, and at times, wonderful last school year. Thank you to the students, staff, parents, and community members who have helped us succeed through these unprecedented times. The 2019-2020 school year was challenging but we are proud of how our students worked through those difficulties.

The diligent work of teachers, principals, and parents over the past year has helped our school continue to improve, even through major adversity. We are again challenged with what next school year will look like. At this point, it is our plan to return to a normal school year with regular procedures and access as we have had in the past.

For academic, social-emotional, and economic reasons, we are compelled to strive to return to an exclusively in-person model. The district must continue to consider all practical steps to keep our schools from contributing to virus spread in our community.

This FEDERALLY REQUIRED plan presents many hours of critical thinking, research, modeling, work, and concern by our educators, staff, and school board. Our Pandemic Response Team also reviewed input gathered from our employees, community members, and parents.

We would appreciate it if you would take some time to review this plan. We encourage everyone to ask questions and respectfully communicate any concerns you may have as we move forward. Together, our school can continue to provide quality education to our children in a safe manner if we continue to collaborate to solve problems.

We will continue to ask for grace and understanding as we work through constant challenges together. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation. It is truly appreciated.

Respectfully,

 Benjamin L. Schafer, Superintendent               

Nesson Public School District #2

Return to In-person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan

June 2021

Introduction

The purpose of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III Fund is to help safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and address the impacts of COVID-19 on the nation’s students by addressing students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs.

This plan will describe how Nesson Public School District #2 will ensure continuity of services for students while also maintaining health and mitigation strategies to keep students and staff safe. For any questions about this plan, contact Superintendent Dr. Ben Schafer at (701) 568-3301 or ben.schafer@rayschools.com.

In the summer of 2020, the state of North Dakota required school districts to create two plans to start the new school year: a Health and Safety Plan and a Distance Learning Plan.  Our team worked on creating these plans over summer with the input of Upper Missouri District Health, a team of staff, and board members during several working sessions during the summer of 2020. Input from parents was gathered through surveys, an informational Zoom meeting and through the opportunity for public comment at board meetings.

The school board approved both plans at their August meeting. Those plans can be seen below.

We returned to in-person instruction on August 20, 2020, and never shut our doors thanks to the diligent efforts of our staff, students and parents following our return to learning plans. Our Health and Safety and Distance Learning plans were consistently followed during the 2020-2021 school year. All mitigation strategies were implemented, and we saw a major decline of cases in the spring of 2021.  We are prioritizing student needs and will outline our plan for addressing those needs.

Health and Safety Strategies

Throughout the pandemic, Nesson Public School District #2 has prioritized the health and safety of students and staff during the return to in-person learning. Following these strategies allowed us to stay in school and keep everyone safe. Below is a description of the safety strategies we utilized and the current status of implementation.

Universal and correct wearing of masks

All visitors were required to wear masks for the duration of our 2020-2021 school year and outside visitors were very limited. Masks were recommended throughout the school year and required on bus routes where social distancing was not possible. Students, staff, and visitors still have the option now to wear masks when on school grounds.

Physical distancing

Teachers and custodial staff refigured all classrooms during the summer of 2020 to create physical distancing in classrooms. Elementary students remained in classroom groups throughout the day and did not comingle with other groups.  Lunches were reconfigured so that elementary students ate as a class and Jr/Sr high school students sat at tables in small groups with students in their grade only. Moving forward, Nesson #2 will monitor the need for physical distancing to reduce transmittable moments as needed.

Handwashing and respiratory etiquette

Stations are made available throughout school buildings which include hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, antibacterial hand soap, and adult and child disposable masks. Coughing and sneezing into a tissue or sleeve, proper disposal of used tissues and proper handwashing are stressed to students and staff. Posters and signage will continue to be used throughout all school buildings.

Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities

HVAC upgrades and deep cleaning measures were put in place at each school. Daily sanitizing and disinfecting became a daily practice in all buildings and on school buses, and is a practice we will continue.

Contact tracing

Contact tracing occurred all school year led by school administrators and Upper Missouri District Health Health Department. We will continue to contact trace through the county and state if we have any further positive cases.

Diagnostic and screening testing

COVID-19 testing was a practice we put into place this school year.  Parents had the option for students to be tested on site and staff were voluntarily tested every Wednesday morning using BinaxNow tests. We will continue to encourage staff and students to be tested if displaying any symptoms.

Efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff, and students

Educator vaccine clinics took place in April at our school. Staff were encouraged to be vaccinated and were permitted to leave early to make their appointments.

Appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities

We were not made aware of any students with disabilities who needed specific accommodations related to our health and safety measures. However, we will make any and all accommodations needed in the future if this arises.

Continuity of Services

Nesson Public School District #2 has taken and will continue to take actions to ensure continuity of services, including but not limited to services to address students’ academic needs and students’ and staff social, emotional, mental health, and other needs.

Academic Needs

When we returned to in-person learning in the fall of 2020, we knew that student achievement had declined due to the drastic change in educational setting in the final quarter of the 2020 school year when students learned from home. We started the school year two days later to give educators time to test students’ reading levels and to start determining math achievement also.

Consequently, we have put the following items into place to meet the needs of students’ learning.

• Refined assessment protocols to determine areas of need.
• Identification of student gap areas in reading and math
• Creation of reading pathways for multi-tiered systems of support
• Hiring of an interventionist
• Restructuring of schedules to allow for interventions
• Purchase of intervention materials
• Staff training and professional development for intervention implementation

Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs

Student and staff mental health has also been at the forefront of our planning during this unusual time in our world’s history. Below is a list of what we have put into place (and will continue to have in place) for students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs.

• Readily available counselor check-ins with a small counselor to student ratio (less than 150 students per counselor)
• Contract with private providers for deeper mental health and counseling services that extend beyond the role of a school counselor. This year, we had several students consistently meeting with a Village counselor via teletherapy at school, drastically reducing the amount of missed class time.
• Student surveys on mental health and youth behavior; results will be presented to staff and the school board to find ways to support students in the areas in which they are struggling.
• Targeted discussion of student needs at staff meetings.

Other Services

Meal services have been provided since March of 2020 through bus transportation. Student transportation services to and from school have been provided during each reopening phase in compliance with CDC guidelines. Extracurricular and athletic activities were resumed for full competition under appropriate health mitigation strategies beginning this school year.

Opportunity for Public Comment

In developing the return to learning plans, our team worked with the input of Upper Missouri District Health Unit, a team of staff, and the school board during several working sessions during the summer of 2020 and that Return to Learning Team met several times throughout the school year. Input from parents was gathered through surveys, an informational Zoom meeting  and through the opportunity for public comment at board meetings.

Ray School Return to In-Person Learning Quick Guide

At the Ray School, we believe that it is critically important for all of our students to attend school in person as much as possible. We intend to use the state "odometer" for risk level to advise our school district's practices. However, it should be noted that a local educational decision regarding Phase I to Phase V will guide the district's decision and will depend on many local factors, despite the state's color determination. When the state changes the risk level, the Response Team may meet and review local conditions to determine the Ray School's educational Phase.

Ray Return to In-Person Learning General Guidelines:

• The ratios (people allowed in a learning space) set by the CDC and our Governor will be followed when possible.

• Encourage the use of masks by students and staff when necessary

• Encourage good hygiene (handwashing with soap, coughing and sneezing into the elbow)

• Arrange students to allow for maximum social distancing when necessary

• Students not feeling well should not enter the school

• Ensure adequate supplies to minimize sharing of high touch materials to the extent possible (art supplies, equipment, balls, weights, etc. assigned to a single student) or limit use of supplies and equipment by one group of students at a time and clean and disinfect between uses

• Maintenance staff will regularly clean and disinfect the rooms/areas used

• Avoid sharing food or drink among students

Ray School Position:

At the Ray Public School we believe students and staff members are in control of their own health decisions. If students are “slightly” sick or if parents do not feel comfortable sending their children to school we strongly believe they should have the option to exercise the choice to remain home and continue learning. We plan to evaluate each staff member’s choice on a case-by-case basis and attempt to make things work for every employee that we are able. This year we will not be offering online curriculum for those not attending school. We feel strongly that a student’s presence in school is vitally important to their success and ask all parents to make sure their child(ren) attend whenever possible. We believe it is vitally important for our students to continue to work to meet all standards and achieve learning goals.

Equal Access to Learning

The Ray Public School will be diligent in providing equal access to educational opportunities for all students regardless of socioeconomic status, race, creed, color or disability. Each student is expected to use the tools provided to them to succeed in their own way.

American Academy of Pediatrics:

School is fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being and provides our children and adolescents with academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, reliable nutrition, physical/speech and mental health therapy, and opportunities for physical activity, among other benefits. These guidelines are provided acknowledging that our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is changing rapidly.

The Ray Return to In-Person Learning Plan will consider the following key principles:

• School policies must be flexible and nimble in responding to new information, and administrators must be willing to refine approaches when specific policies are not working.
• It is critically important to develop strategies that can be revised and adapted depending on the level of viral transmission in the school and throughout the community and done with close communication with state and/or local public health authorities and recognizing the differences between school districts, including urban, suburban, and rural districts.
• Special considerations and accommodations to account for the diversity of youth should be made, especially for our vulnerable populations, including those who are medically fragile, live in poverty, have developmental challenges, or have special health care needs or disabilities, with the goal of safe return to school.
• No child or adolescents should be excluded from school unless required in order to adhere to local public health mandates or because of unique medical needs. Pediatricians, families, and schools should partner together to collaboratively identify and develop accommodations when needed.

Assumptions & Assurances 

• Every student should have the opportunity to engage in learning, regardless of the spread of any pandemic or other viruses in our community.
• Schools have a vital role in providing safe environments for students, focusing on both social-emotional and physical health.
• By working together with educators, staff, health care professionals, parents, students, and community members we can solve most challenges.
• Our district will make decisions based on the most current guidance from local, state, and national health care officials.

• Our School Board will work to ensure our plan meets the needs of a majority of our students, educators, staff and community while understanding that the administration and Ray Pandemic Response Team may need to alter this plan based on new information without board approval.
• Every student and family will work to have the best attendance possible while being mindful of virus spread in our school and/or community.

The Ray School’s Return to In-Person Learning Plan was crafted and reviewed by a team consisting of the following representatives:

Ray Education Association (REA): Mary Ellen Roloff

Elementary Teacher:

High School Teacher: Eric Viall

Middle School Teacher: Kathryn Leal

Maintenance Staff Member & Grandparent: Steve Magnuson

Office & Grandparent:  Jennifer Skor, Kelli Heier

Kitchen & Grandparent:  Barb Thoreson

Student Facilitator & Parent: Alesha Oster

Parent & Healthcare Representative: Misty Donnelly

UMDHU: Daphne Clark

Elem. Prin: Bernadette Perdue

HS Prin: Matt Heier

Supt & Parent: Ben Schafer

Input was gathered by various means to allow for a wide range of opinions to be shared.

Pandemic Response Team

This team was gathered to assist in the development and monitoring of the district Return to In-Person Learning Plan. These guiding team members will serve as a voice in how the district responds to any pandemic during the school year. This plan is designed to address the issues of reopening as well as provide a nimble and responsive process to address issues that may not be recognized today.

Pandemic Building Level Coordinators

Ray will have a Pandemic Coordinator who will be responsible for the health and safety preparedness and response planning. Coordinators will make themselves available to the NDDoH to respond to phone calls from public health.  The School Superintendent will assume the role of building-level coordinator. If the coordinator is unable to be reached the secondary contacts will be the Elementary Principal and the High School Principal.

Phases

The following phases will be used to define the community risk level associated with a pandemic. These phases align with a plan previously outlined by the State of North Dakota. Each level is reported to schools by the NDDoH after rigorous testing and assessment of cases in the community.  

Instructional Models

The instructional models used by the district will be guided, in part, by the risk level of any pandemic in the community as defined within the phases above.  This is a basic guide as instructional models could be altered based on other factors, such as occupancy levels, age of children, and abilities to move certain classes online.

Health and Safety Guidance

The district strives to provide a healthy and safe environment for all who occupy our schools. The following guidelines are intended to provide a framework for the district’s response to any pandemic. Additionally, these resources are available to parents and families to provide ongoing training and education regarding any pandemic.

Best Intentions

Despite taking every reasonable precaution, there is no guarantee that our school will be without risk as it relates to any pandemic. Viruses of many kinds will most likely be present on our buses, in our classrooms, and at our activities. In certain situations, social distancing is not possible in a school setting. Our actions, as outlined in this plan, will not prevent any student or staff member from being in contact with the virus.

Protect Yourself and Others

Wash your hands often

• Wash with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Students are encouraged to wash their hands often throughout the day.

 Avoid close contact

• Keep social distance from others especially important for people who are at a higher risk of getting sick.
• Alternate or modified schedules, adjustments to use of common areas, use of outdoor spaces, and other actions that increase physical separation may be considered.
• The sharing of instructional materials should be limited as much as possible.
• Physical separation when possible and seating charts on buses, one student per seat except those from the same household, will be our goal but cannot be guaranteed.

• Visitors will be required to wear a mask to gain entry into the building.
• NDDoH Guidelines for Close Contact in School/Childcare settings: https://www.health.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/Files/MSS/coronavirus/School%20Resources/Close_Contacts_in_School_Child_Care_Settings.pdf

Cover coughs and sneezes

• Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
• Throw tissues away and wash hands or use hand sanitizer to prevent spread.

Clean and disinfect

• School staff should clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.
• Shared materials (not recommended) should be cleaned.
• Classrooms will be cleaned nightly by custodial staff.

Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others

• We will not be requiring masks for students or staff. Guests may be asked to wear masks when entering the school depending on the spread of any virus within our community.

Ray Pandemic PPE

Monitor your health daily

• Be alert for symptoms. Watch for fever, cough, or shortness of breath.
• Parents are asked to screen their children each day before sending them to school.  Use the screening guidance provided (see appendix).
• Staff and students who are sick should stay home.
• Temperatures of symptomatic students or staff may be taken at the school office.

o   Symptomatic students may be isolated, and their guardians contacted.

Health & Safety Protocols

Monitoring the health of students and staff will be an important component of a safe and healthy educational environment. Ray School encourages testing among our employees and students. Ray School will take the following measures to aid in the health of all students and staff while they are at school.  

Identifying Students & Staff at Higher Risk

• Back to School and enrollment processes will include questions asking families to identify if their child is at-risk, based on a health professionals’ diagnosis. This information will be provided to the superintendent (any pandemic Coordinator) who will contact the family and discuss instructional model options.
• The Superintendent will converse with employees if they feel they are at-risk, based on a health professionals’ diagnosis. The Superintendent will work in partnership with the building principal and the employee to coordinate adjustments to the work schedule or workplace, if possible.
• When the NDDoH or our UMDHU inform the district of a student or staff member that is any pandemic positive that information will be passed on to the Superintendent as allowable within district policy and law.

Isolation & Quarantine

• Isolation – For people who are already sick from the virus. A prevention strategy used to separate people who are sick with the virus from healthy people.
• Quarantine – For people who are not sick but have been exposed to the virus. A prevention strategy used to monitor people who were exposed for a period of time.
• Ray School will follow isolation and quarantine guidelines and directives as set by NDDOH and Upper Missouri District Health Unit.

If a student or staff members become sick at school (or school event)

• Student

o   Direct/escort the child to the office.

o   The child shall be provided a facial covering and isolated in the building sick room.

o   Parent/guardian will be contacted to pick up their child.

• Staff

o   Inform your supervisor immediately and wear a face mask/shield until they can be replaced if supervising students at that time.

o   Leave the school building/grounds and consult with a healthcare professional.

• Close Contacts

• Depending on the group (cohort) the infected student was in, if a student or staff member tests positive for a pandemic related virus,  close contacts may be asked to quarantine.
• At this point, it is not recommended to shut down the entire school based on one positive case.

Return to School

• When a student or staff member has been isolated or quarantined as directed by NDDoH or Upper Missouri District Health they will be allowed to return to school after being cleared by the NDDoH.

Transportation

“Normal” transportation may not be possible when trying to abide by the guidelines set forth. The school district understands that students will not be able to follow distancing guidelines if all route buses have their normal amount of riders. We ask that parents are diligent about checking temperatures and going through the checklist within this document prior to sending students to school on the bus. It is strongly recommended that when possible, parents bring their children to school and pick them up to avoid bus overcrowding, help us to keep their social distance and get them with their own cohort group.

• Routes may change throughout the year.
• Parents picking up/dropping off students should remain in their vehicles.
• Routes may be suspended during the year if our levels and/or protocols change.

Ray School Operational Guidance

BEFORE SCHOOL!

Parents are asked to review this daily health checklist by answering these questions before sending their child to school.

(Parents do not need to send the questionnaire to school)

Has your child had close contact with a confirmed case of any pandemic virus?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have a new or worsening shortness of breath?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have a new or worsening cough?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have a fever of 100.5 or greater?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have chills?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have a sore throat?

Yes____ No____

Does your child have a new loss of taste or smell?

Yes____ No____