The Daily Logistics of Keeping Students and Staff Safe.
BY: DINA BUCZKOWSKI
Embedded Files
Students will be able to determine that, with the right guidelines in place, a school can be safely reopened during a pandemic.
2. At the end of this lesson, students will be able to name guidelines that must be followed to reopen a school safely.
Describe the various methods used to keep students and staff socially distanced.
How schools must be cleaned on a continual basis to prevent the spread of the virus.
Explain how schools practice strict enforcement of screening students and staff for Covid 19.
Questions to consider...
Questions to consider...
1. How does social distancing ensure that the spread of Covid 19 in the classroom does not occur?
2. What sanitation measures must be taken to ensure the virus is not spread through surfaces?
3. What procedures must be in place to screen students and staff for Covid 19 and what are the procedures for isolating suspected cases ?
INTRODUCTION
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Video Transcript: Many states grappled with the decision to reopen schools for Fall 2020, during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. Many districts felt the pressures to open schools to provide resources for those students in special need categories or those in under-served communities, who need necessary resources or safe spaces that a school provides, but had to consider if they could reopen in a safe way (Bond, Dibner, Schweingruber & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Division of Behavioral Social Sciences Education, 2020). According to (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021), “many variables must be considered.” A school must be able to show that it has adequate room for recommended social distancing, the availability of resources for proper sanitation, use of masks and strict procedures in place to monitor students and staff for Covid 19 symptoms and measures that will be taken to isolate students and staff who exhibit these symptoms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021).
INTERVIEW
I interviewed Dr. Gale Hall, an Elementary Principal for a private school in Chesapeake, VA.. Dr. Hall has a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Liberty University and has been in Education for over 20 years. In addition to being an elementary principal, Dr. Hall is currently an Adjunct Professor at Regent University in the Education Department. As the head of the elementary campus, Dr. Hall was instrumental in making decisions on reopening the school and coordinated with the Chesapeake Department of Health to implement the mitigation strategies and guidelines from the Center for Disease Control to safely reopen the school.
Takeaway 1
In order to maintain proper social distancing, the school removed any unnecessary furniture to accommodate desks being spread up to 6’ apart or putting up plastic barriers. The school also decreased the number of students per class to ensure proper space could be maintained. They also added extra tables to the lunchroom to accommodate spreading the students out more. Each classroom had a designated lunch table and each student a designated seat. Each classroom or grade level must enter one way and exit another way (Dr. G. Hall, Personal Communication, February 13, 2021)
Takeaway 2
The school mandates that all students five years or older wear a mask at all times, in the building and in any area where a 6' distance cannot be maintained. The exception are those staff/students who have underlying health issues (Dr. G. Hall, Personal Communication, February 13, 2021).
Takeaway 3
The school hired a cleaning company who utilizes the most up to date sanitizing tools and materials such as disinfecting electrostatic sprayers, which are effective at sanitizing large areas at one time. Additionally, there are full time day porters who sanitize frequently used touch points continually throughout the school day. The bathrooms are also sanitized several times a day. Classroom teachers are wiping down all areas in their classroom frequently throughout the day, as well as before they leave for the day (Dr. G. Hall, personal correspondence, 2021).
Takeaway 4
The school utilizes a checkpoint system to screen all students and staff before entering the building. When students arrive, their temperatures are taken before they exit their vehicles. All staff and faculty have their temperatures taken at the entrance of the building. If a student or staff member exhibits any symptoms, they are not permitted to enter the building or they need to exit the building. Any diagnoses of COVID 19 are coordinated with the nurse, administration, and the VDH. The student or staff member affected will be quarantined for 14 days and placed in a virtual classroom (Dr. G. Hall, personal correspondence, 2021).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, when a school decides to open, they must follow certain guidelines to ensure that it is done with safety being the top priority. This can be achieved through proper social distancing and mask wearing, continuous sanitation of the school’s surface areas and rigid screening procedures (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). According to (Dr. G. Hall, personal correspondence, 2021), the school put the measures in place, and had 9 months without a single case of Covid. In fact, while there have been documented cases, the school has been able to operate without any outbreaks or full school closures due to Covid. This shows that with the proper measures in place and following them with strict enforcement, this can lead to a successful reopening of a school in a pandemic.
Its your turn to show what you learned!
What is the best way to prevent the spread of viruses when 6' distance cannot be maintained?
a. Remove extra furniture to spread desks out as much as possible
b. Wear masks
c. Plastic dividers between desks
d. All of the above
When a student shows signs of virus symptoms, what action should be taken?
a. allow them to go back to class until parents arrive
b. isolate and quarantine
c. wait until the end of the day and not allow them to return the next day
d. none of the above
Click to see answers
Click to see answers
1.d
2.b
REFERENCES
Bond, E., Dibner, K., Schweingruber, H., & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine . Division of Behavioral Social Sciences Education. issuing body. (2020). Reopening K-12 Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities. Washington, DC. National Academies Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/odu/reader.action?docID=6372414
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). K-12 Schools and Child Care Programs. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools-faq.html
Hall, G. Personal Correspondence. (2021)
Photo credits:
"covid-19" by Prachatai https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/912dd531-a0e3-4f3b-ad5e-b79b2390cbba
"First Day of School" by dangaken https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
"Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2" by NIAID https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/5b42f852-7b94-4cb2-98cd-a1163bb07ac4
“Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2” NIAID at https://flickr.com/photos/54591706@N02/49534865371
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