Kadoka Area School District Back to School Plan for 2020-2021

The Kadoka Area School District has created a plan through our Return to Learn Committee to create a safe and caring learning environment while reducing the impact of COVID 19 for students, staff, and community/visitors. The guidelines referenced in this plan are from guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), South Dakota Department of Health (S.D. DOH) , and the South Dakota Department of Education (S.D. DOE). The plan will be updated regularly as new information comes in from the CDC, WHO, and applicable federal, state and local agencies.

The goal of the Kadoka Area School District, is to start school as scheduled on August 19, with all students in the school building. The Return to Learn Committee created a Tiered system approach for our students, staff, and community's safety. The tiered approach will be enacted based on the number of cases we have locally and through guidance from the South Dakota Department of Health and our local health care system. Advice will be provided by the South Dakota Department of Health, South Dakota Department of Education, and local health care providers to determine if school will have to occur via Flex Learning or Remote learning based on our local community cases. 

The School District will have a resources page created for families to access that will walk them through the programs expected of students for Flex Learning and/or Remote learning if needed during the 2020-2021 school year.

The Kadoka Area School District is asking parent(s)/guardian(s) to please temperature check your child(ren) at home before sending them to school. Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are the first line of defense in assisting schools with identifying students who have a temperature above 100.4 degrees and/or are ill should not attend school. Any student, with a temperature above 100.4 degrees, will be asked to stay home. The student will need to stay home until their temperature is below 100.4 degrees for 24 hours without the aid of any medications. All students will be screened for a temperature and asked questions through a symptom checker, students with temperatures above 100.4 degrees will be sent to the secretary’s office. The student will be isolated in the secretary’s office, parent(s)/guardian(s) will be contacted, and the student will be isolated until they can be picked up.

All staff members, both certified and non-certified, will fill out a screener each day they come into work, and a staff member will take their temperature. Staff members are encouraged to take their temperatures at home. If a staff member has a temperature above 100.4 degrees, they must stay home until their temperature is below 100.4 degrees for 24 hours without the aid of any medications. 

Community members and visitors will not be allowed into the classrooms or areas outside of the office areas during the school day. If community members or visitors would want to come into the school, they need to be approved by the school administrator and adhere to the same screening and temperature checks as the students and staff.

Students will have additional time built into their school schedule to accommodate hand washing/hand sanitizing procedures during the school day. Elementary classrooms will have frequent sanitizing of shared areas after use by students and staff. Middle school and high school students will sanitize their seating areas, as they transition to and from classrooms. Posters for correct hand washing and hand sanitizing procedures will be in restrooms, hallways, and classrooms.

Deep cleaning is triggered when an active employee or student is identified as positive for COVID 19 based on testing.  Friday’s will be utilized at deep cleaning time and teacher will assist with their induvial classrooms.  

Bus drivers or custodial staff must disinfect the buses at a minimum:

1.After the morning route

2.After the afternoon route

All students who ride the busses must wear a mask since they will be in a confined space for an extended period, and social distancing cannot be adhered to during the bus route. All students will have assigned seats, and families will sit with each other on the bus. The bus will fill from the back to the front as students are picked up to decrease students' passing on the bus. Bus windows will be opened when applicable to increase the movement of airflow on the bus.  

While in locker rooms, students are to practice social distancing, which means to try and stay 6 feet from others as a normal practice.  Eliminate contact with others, such as handshakes.  Avoid touching surfaces touched by others to the extent feasible.  Avoid anyone who is coughing, sneezing or appears to be sick. 

The social and emotional wellbeing of students and staff is always a priority. The school district will work with our mental health professionals and counselors to provide families and staff resources to access. The school counselors will work with staff and parent(s)/guardian(s) to work individually with students or in the group setting to assist with students' social and emotional wellbeing.

Staff members will be provided with the opportunity to learn more about distance education and tools available to make flex learning and remote learning more effective. Staff members will work on Microsoft teams, mental health training, and suicide prevention before the first in-person in-service training. During in-service times at the start of the year, staff will be provided with in-depth training in person for Microsoft teams. Through these efforts, we will provide a more effective and efficient, flex learning and remote learning opportunity for students, if the need arises. 

The school district will enact the Tier system when a case of COVID occurs within a school building. The administration will work with S.D. DOH and our local health care providers to determine the best course of action within our school district. If the number of cases increases, the school district will move down a Tier unless more prevention is needed, based on the advice from S.D. DOH and our local health care providers. The administration will work with S.D. DOH and our local health care providers to determine the best course of action within our school district. The school district administration will decide on what Tier we will be in based on the number of cases in our area and the recommendation of S.D. DOH and our local health care providers.

Tier 1: Back to school as usual, with increased social distancing.  PPE is available for staff and students.

Face masks or shields will be mandatory during students' transportation to and from school via the bus.

Parents and community members will have limited access in the school buildings.  Parents, community and vendors are required to have approval from the administration prior to entering the buildings.

Tier 2:  Tier 2 will be activated when a case of COVID is confirmed within our educational family.  The school will shut down for a brief period, 24 hours for deep cleaning and review of plan.  Increased social distancing measures will be put into place and internal modification to the school schedule may occur.  All transitions and specials will be reviewed.

Tier 3:   Tier 3 will occur when we have several confirmed cases of COVID.  The school district will work with the Department of Health to move to Tier 3.  The superintendent or his designee will announce the move to this Tier.  A part time schedule such as an A/B schedule may be implemented. Half of the students will report on Monday and Wednesday with the other half Tuesday and Thursday. Friday tutoring will be available every other week.  All internal transitions such as recess, lunch, specials will be evaluated and modified.  A barrier may be required, (ex.  Face mask, face shield, plexiglass panel) with the school structure altered.

Tier 4: Tier 4 will occur when we have multiple families with confirmed cases of COVID -19.  The school district will work in conjunction with the department of health to determine the movement from this Tier.  The school building will be shut down for a minimum of two weeks and remote leaning with all students will occur during that time.

In order to accommodate increased social distancing during student meals the school district will add additional seating for students. The administration may determine that some classes will eat in their classrooms, Great Hall, or Gym if needed to try and adhere to social distancing recommendations from the CDC, WHO, and S.D. DOH. 

When the school district determines, through advice from S.D. DOH and our local health system, that school needs to be on an A/B schedule or remote learning, students are expected to have their materials done on time. In the A/B schedule, students will have in-person learning at the school on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. That means that each day the student is in school, they will have a new lesson in their classes.  Remote learning will strictly be online, and a new lesson will be presented each day for the students. 

If reliable internet service is an issue for participating in online instruction, families can make accommodations by contacting the school offices.

Each grade level (K-2), (3-5), and (6-12) will have their teacher webpage where each class will be available. On the teacher website accessed from their faculty page, there will be a lesson plans link. This lesson plan link will take student and parent(s)/guardian(s) to a list of the teacher's classes or subjects that they teach. Students and parent(s)/guardian(s) can click on each link for the daily lesson in their classroom. Each day will have the standard the student will learn, the video link for the class that day, and the assignment. Please allow teachers time to get these materials uploaded each day for your child(ren).