Coronavirus FAQ

Please click here to see an FAQ related to graduation and other senior events and news.

As planned, the district followed its plan to observe spring break the week of March 16. Now, to make our instruction as meaningful as possible during closure, we are using the week of March 23-27 as a professional development preparation week for our teachers. They will have time to plan high-quality lessons and practice using remote-learning tools for the week of March 30 and beyond, since there is a real possibility the state could extend the time schools are closed. Families can determine how they will use their time during the week of March 23, including pursuing students’ interests or creative projects. District staff have made a list of grade-band resources and practice activities that families can access, available here. To make remote instruction purposeful and rewarding, it is essential that our teachers have adequate time to prepare.

Beginning the week of March 30, teachers will communicate a week’s worth of remote learning activities in a single email on Mondays. Students will have an entire week (due the following Sunday at 11:59 p.m.) to complete all remote learning activities. Lessons will be aligned with key standards and of reasonable length. All assignments will be accessible to students with special needs, or alternative assignments will be provided. Teachers will provide instructions on how to turn in completed work.

At the elementary level, every Monday by 9 a.m. parents will receive a single email from their child's teacher or teachers with the week's assignments for both core classes and specials.

At the middle school level, every Monday by 9 a.m. sixth- and seventh-grade parents and students will receive a single email from the student's team with the week's assignments for both core classes and impact/encore classes. Eighth-grade parents and students will receive a single email from the grade level with the week's assignments for both core classes and impact/encore classes.

At the high school level, every Monday by 9 a.m. students and parents will receive an email from each of the student's teachers with the week's assignments.

To date, all Ohio schools are closed until April 3rd. In Oak Hills, remote learning activities will start Monday, March 30th. All remote learning activities assigned from Monday, March 30th to Friday, April 3rd will be assessed for completion only. If Governor DeWine extends school closures past Friday, April 3rd, the district will provide additional guidance as we await further information from the Ohio Department of Education on how the fourth quarter of the school year will proceed. Whatever form grading takes, we appreciate parents’ support in ensuring that students complete their assignments and take them very seriously. Our intent is to provide meaningful remote learning activities, to work with students and families to ensure every opportunity for student success, and to create as little additional stress during this difficult time.

Each building team will use the week of March 23 to develop a plan for communicating with families and making teachers available for check-ins and help. Beginning on Monday, March 30th, Pre-K - 12 teachers will be available daily during the school day. Teachers will be available during the hours of 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Office hours are used to answer questions and offer support via email or phone. Virtual check-ins with families will include parents and students, not one-on-one between teachers and students.

On March 25, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation that allows remote-learning hours to make up for time missed during the mandatory three-week closure. So far districts have not received word on what will happen now that the closure has been extended to May 1. We will update this site as soon as we receive guidance.

On March 25, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation that waived state testing and state report cards for the 2019-2020 school year.

Please click here for the OHLSD plan and response regarding AP testing.

The June 13 ACT test has been cancelled for OHHS. For more information visit the ACT FAQ page here.

On Mondays, our Food Services Department will offer free grab-and-go meals at two locations, Delshire Elementary School and Oakdale Elementary School. The meals are available to any student across the district who has need. Students must be present to receive meals. The meal service will be a drive-up delivery from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Students will receive five breakfast meals and five lunch meals for the week. To help our staff prepare, parents should go to bit.ly/OHLSDmeal to let us know the number of children for whom they’ll need meals, and which school location (Delshire or Oakdale) they’ll use for pick up. Sign-up for the Monday distribution closes at noon on the Saturday prior.

A sincere thanks to the Kids & Community Food Collaborative, Kroger, Crossroads Church, and Bridgetown Church of Christ for providing funding and support. You can contribute to the Collaborative via PayPal using this link: https://PayPal.me/KCFC

Your child’s intervention specialist, instructional assistant, related service team, and teacher(s) will be collaborating virtually during the closure period to create instructional materials and resources that meet your child’s individual needs, based on his or her IEP or 504 plan. Your child’s school-based IEP team is dedicated to making a good-faith effort to ensure delivery of special education and related services while school is closed. If a student with a disability has challenges with accessing the remote instruction or related services due to their disability, the district will consult with parents and/or caregivers to determine the student’s needs and identify the most appropriate means for meeting them during the closure period.

Team members have planned to hold phone conferences or Google Meet (video calls) in situations where Evaluation Team Reports (ETR), Individualized Education Plans (IEP), or 504 Plans are due. Your child’s case manager will reach out to you to plan for this meeting or to reschedule meetings that are not immediately due.

Oak Hills Local School District partners with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to provide mental health support to our students. They have shared the following message to guide our families:

“Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is committed to the safety of all patients. Similar to the rest of the country, CCHMC has the potential to be impacted by the COVID-19 virus and we are expecting an increase in patients presenting to our emergency departments. Our goal is for patients who do not need emergent care to avoid the emergency department in an attempt to avoid unnecessary exposure to infectious illness. For mental health crises or emergencies, patients and families are encouraged to contact their current mental health provider first. This allows the mental health provider, who knows your child best, to provide support and direction. If your child does not have a mental health provider and they are experiencing a non-life-threatening mental health crisis, you are encouraged to contact the Psychiatric Intake Response Center (PIRC) at CCHMC, 513-636-4124. The PIRC staff will help you decide the most effective level of intervention for your child’s mental health crisis -- which may include an urgent psychiatric assessment in the PIRC Bridge Clinic. You should go to the emergency department if you are experiencing a medical emergency, a life-threatening mental health crisis, or are directed to go there by a medical provider. This will help limit the spread of the virus in our community and allow our emergency departments to care for patients with the most critical needs first.”

Oak Hills Local School District suggests the following resource from the National Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Nurses: "Talking to Children about COVID-19: A Parent Resource".

First, isolate the family member from the rest of your family as much as is possible, including using a separate bedroom and bathroom if possible. Second, find out how you can access your doctor. At some point, some doctors may begin seeing their patients through online teleconferencing instead of through office visits. Check with your insurance provider to see if it offers that service. Then contact your doctor’s office and follow their guidance on next steps.

Meanwhile, be very diligent about isolating the family member and continuously cleaning spaces, surfaces and clothing the person comes in contact with. The affected family member and other family members who came in contact with him or her should remain quarantined until their doctor advises them otherwise.

District health nurse Holly Reilly’s advice: “Don’t let them!"

People who have contracted the virus sometimes don’t show symptoms. The only way to know you are keeping your family safe is to remain at home and practice social distancing from others. Our area has not experienced the full extent of this pandemic yet. Taking steps to slow it down now will help keep our community safe later.

While we want children to be outdoors and active, they should avoid places where people could congregate, including playgrounds and skate parks. A better option is something like the "Move It Monday" encouraged by our district schools, where students find simple ways to be active, like dancing or biking. Mrs. Reilly's tip: Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube, which her preschool-aged granddaughter loves!

Charter Communications is offering free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access to families with students in K-12 who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription. To access this, parents should call 844-488-8395. For more information: http://bit.ly/33qxldU

Families who do not have access to or have technology device needs at home, please contact your individual building for assistance. Parents may leave a message on the attendance line. School staff will return your call to assist with your technology needs.

Please see our Remote Learning and Technology document that indicates how technology will be used during Remote Learning. In addition, some teachers may utilize the video conferencing tool Google Meet with students. You'll find more information about this tool in the linked document.

There are many different video-conferencing tools such as Google Meet and Zoom. Since all teachers and students have OHLSD-provided Google accounts, our district has decided to use and promote Google Meet. This allows students to access the tool without parents, students or teachers having to create a new account through a different platform and will seamlessly integrate with already established programs, such as Google Classroom. This also ensures that each student has an account and access to the tool --- one less username/password to remember.

Please see this Chromebook Quick Fix Guide that includes fixes to many commonly reported issues.

If your device is broken beyond use, please contact your teacher or building administrator and a support ticket will be submitted. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, we will be closely monitoring our response and plan for device repair. As of 3/30/20, we will not be repairing devices this week as buildings are closed and we are trying to limit the number of people in each building. We want to both protect and support our Technology Support Team and the OHLSD community. Any student that damages a device beyond use will be considered a student without access to technology and alternative assignments should be provided until access has been restored.

All field trips have been cancelled through April 30. Trips beyond that date will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The teacher advisor for each trip will work with the vendor and treasurer’s office on potential refunds and communicate directly with parents.

Because of Gov. DeWine's Stay at Home order, we have a new process for kindergarten registration. Parents are invited to fill out this form to start the registration process. An OHLSD staff member will then be in touch with you by June 1 to complete the next steps in enrolling your child. Meanwhile, we are looking forward to welcoming your child next fall!

Welcome! Because of Gov. DeWine's Stay at Home order, we are asking parents to begin the process by filling out this form. An OHLSD staff member will then be in touch by June 1 to explain the next steps in the enrollment process.

All school extracurricular activities are cancelled through April 6. No decisions have yet been made on prom, graduation, fine arts performances or end-of-year events scheduled after April 6. We are awaiting guidance from the Governor on acceptable group sizes for public gatherings in the future, and the possibility of extended school closings. We will inform parents when those decisions are made. Since graduation is scheduled for the University of Cincinnati, we are waiting on guidance from UC on whether they will still host graduation ceremonies.

The Ohio Department of Education has offered this guidance for the graduating class of 2020. “Ensuring that the Class of 2020 is on track to graduate is an important priority. Schools should take this opportunity to review the status of each senior to determine the extent to which the student has met graduation requirements for the Class of 2020. There is significant flexibility in the graduation requirements for the Class of 2020. It is important that schools understand the needs of each of their students and have, to the extent possible, a plan to help each student complete these requirements during the remainder of the school year, both during the closure period (as practicable) and at such time as school may resume.”

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) has mandated a “No Contact” period through April 5. All practices, scrimmages and contests have been suspended during the mandated closure. We are awaiting further guidance from the OHSAA concerning the spring athletic season, and will share information as soon as it becomes available.

You may make tuition payments by EZpay, or by mailing a check (made out to Oak Hills Local Schools) to:

Oak Hills Schools District Office

c/o Karen Floyd

6325 Rapid Run Road

Cincinnati, OH 45233

If you do not know your child's student number, contact Karen Floyd at floyd_k@ohlsd.org.

Unfortunately, no. Our buildings are closed in accordance with Gov. DeWine's Stay at Home order. We are also preserving our custodial staff's deep cleaning and sanitizing so our buildings are ready and safe when our students return.

Right now the plan is to reschedule the information night when school is back in session. If the schools remain closed, middle-school administrators will create a virtual means of sharing information on the transition from fifth grade to sixth grade.

Our custodial and maintenance staff is using the mandated closure to deep-clean and disinfect all district buildings and buses using hospital-grade products. The buildings will be re-cleaned and sanitized before students return to school, and intensified cleaning and disinfecting will continue on a daily basis once our students and staff return to school.

Yes. The Ohio Department of Commerce has suspended its usual protocol. Students can now work with a completed work-permit application and parent consent form. Find the forms here: https://bit.ly/2ybqrhb

Yes. Orders are still being taken, and information is included in Friday OHHS emails. The cost is $80, plus an optional $7 for shipping, which can be paid via EZPay.

Unfortunately, due to the mandated closure, all district buildings and facilities are closed to students, both to eliminate social contact and also to preserve the effects of cleaning and disinfecting.

Oak Hills Local Schools is committed to keeping our staff and families informed during this difficult time and these changing circumstances. Parents will receive an email update from the district each week, with a text message alerting them to the email. Any urgent information or updated guidance from the Ohio Department of Education or Governor -- for example, an extension of the school closure -- will be communicated immediately.

The district will also continually update the FAQ that can be found at ohlsd.us/coronavirus. The FAQ is the easiest and quickest way to keep abreast of current information. Have a question not answered on our list? Use the ‘Submit a Question’ form linked on the website.

For building specific information, parents may call their individual school and press “1” (attendance line) and leave a detailed message (please leave your name, student name, and contact phone number). School staff will collect those questions remotely and contact you.

Oak Hills High School, 922-2300
Bridgetown Middle School, 574-3511
C.O. Harrison Elementary School, 922-1485
Delhi Middle School, 922-8400
John Foster Dulles Elementary School, 574-3443
Springmyer Elementary School, 574-1205
Oakdale Elementary School, 574-1100
Delshire Elementary School, 471-1766
Rapid Run Middle School, 467-0300

Finally, beyond communicating efficiently, we promise to communicate with respect, empathy and compassion. We know that every family -- of students and staff -- is going through its own hardships. We are thinking of you with every decision we make. We care and are here to serve you and your family.

Both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ohio Department of Health’s information line, 1-833-4-ASKODH (1-833-427-5634), are reliable sources.

As planned, the district followed its plan to observe spring break the week of March 16. Now, to make our instruction as meaningful as possible during closure, we are using the week of March 23-27 as a professional development preparation week for our teachers. They will have time to plan high-quality lessons and practice using remote-learning tools for the week of March 30 and beyond, since there is a real possibility the state could extend the time schools are closed. Families can determine how they will use their time during the week of March 23, including pursuing students’ interests or creative projects. District staff have made a list of grade-band resources and practice activities that families can access, available here. To make remote instruction purposeful and rewarding, it is essential that our teachers have adequate time to prepare.