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BACK-TO-SCHOOL DISTRICT UPDATE

ISSUED: 7/8/2020

BACK-TO-SCHOOLDISTRICT UPDATEISSUED: 7/8/2020

District update #4, including final school plans and a process for selecting the best instructional option for your student(s) in the new school year.

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THANK YOU for your input. We had almost 900 individual responses to the draft plans shared on June 29 and greatly appreciate the thoughtful review and response from so many. As promised, you will find our final school plans in this publication, which include a variety of changes in addition to the new or more detailed guidance outlined below.


HEALTH MANAGEMENT PLAN

  1. Students or staff who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms with a corresponding fever above 100.4 will be sent home
  2. Students and staff should not return until one of the following conditions are met:
  • A health care provider has confirmed that the individual’s illness is not due to COVID-19 because another explanation has been identified (e.g., fever due to urinary tract infection, strep throat confirmed by a positive strep test, rash from poison ivy, etc.). Diagnoses of upper respiratory tract infection, pneumonia, or viral illness, does not exclude the diagnosis of COVID-19 and will not be considered adequate to authorize a return to school.
  • The individual has evidence of a positive COVID-19 molecular/PCR test and has isolated for 10 days with no symptoms for 72 hours immediately prior to returning. The results of antibody tests will not be considered proof of immunity or lack of infection.
  • The individual has been well for at least 72 hours and has documentation of TWO negative COVID-19 molecular/PCR tests at least 24 hours apart during the most recent absence. Results of tests that precede the dates of the most recent absence are not acceptable, nor are results of antibody testing.
  • The individual has self-isolated for a period of 10 days with no symptoms for 72 hours immediately prior to returning, regardless of test results (whether negative, positive, or not obtained).
OTHER HEALTH-RELATED CONSIDERATIONS:
  • Families will be informed when there is a confirmed case in a school building. Contact tracing and communication of any confirmed cases will be managed on a case-by-case basis, in cooperation with local health authorities.
  • All students who have been in close contact (defined by TN Department of Health as within 6 feet for 10 or more minutes) with a confirmed case will need to be quarantined at home for 14 days.
Review the full MCS Health Management Plan at this link.


STUDENT ABSENCES DUE TO COVID-19

Students isolated at home for 10 days (suspected/confirmed case) or 14 days (close contact to a confirmed case) will continue to receive daily instruction. Students will be counted present for attendance purposes during the isolation period as long as they are engaging in the instruction. The regular classroom teachers will continue to be responsible for the student’s instruction. School administrators will track the extent of absences to engage additional support as needed.


DIGITAL LEARNING

will begin on July 30, along with those returning for traditional classroom instruction. Review the full student plan at this link.


MASK-WEARING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING

  • All faculty and staff are required to wear a face-covering in common areas, large gatherings, class changes, anytime outside their classroom, and in the classroom when they cannot social distance of at least 6 feet.
  • All school visitors are required to wear a mask.
  • K-7 GUIDANCE: Every effort will be made in elementary (K-3) and intermediate (4-7) schools to keep students in small cohorts and minimize mixing between groups. Students are strongly encouraged to wear a face-covering on buses, during congested transitions (changing classes, dismissal), and when working in close proximity to peers and adults. Staff members will wear masks and model those opportunities with their students and families will be asked to also support responsive mask-wearing. Teachers will implement social distancing, strategic seating/grouping, and extra handwashing/hygiene as often and feasible as possible.
  • 8-12 GUIDANCE: Students in grades 8-12 are expected to wear face coverings when physical distancing is difficult. While the district does not intend to require mask-wearing as part of the enforceable dress code, the faculty and staff will make it clear it is a strongly encouraged and expected practice. When students can be socially distanced of 6 feet within classrooms, then mask prompting and encouragement will lessen. However, in crowded spaces (changing classes, riding a bus, transitional breaks, close proximity environments, interactive student work sessions) reminders and prompts to wear a mask will be issued from teachers and administrators. In addition, announcements, posters, and daily communication will detail the merits of wearing a mask throughout the school day. Staff members will wear masks and model those opportunities with their students, and families will be asked to also support responsive mask-wearing. A face covering will be provided to every student and staff member in grades 8-12. Teachers will implement social distancing, strategic seating/grouping, and hand sanitizing/handwashing as often and feasible as possible.


SELECTING AN INSTRUCTIONAL OPTION

Families will select between traditional or digital learning by participating in the survey below or at this link. We encourage families to remain with the selected delivery format (traditional or digital) for nine-week intervals. Students may transition from digital to traditional (or vice versa) at the natural breaks (fall break, winter break, spring break). It is requested that students only make one instructional delivery change per year.

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INSTRUCTIONAL OPTIONS SURVEY

REQUIRED ---> Based on the options detailed in the plans above, you must SELECT ONE INSTRUCTIONAL OPTION for each student in your household by completing this survey form. Please complete on or before July 12th.


LINK HERE

or

use the button below.

INSTRUCTIONAL OPTIONS SURVEY
PLEASE COMPLETE THIS SURVEY ON OR BEFORE JULY 12.

TIMELINE (revised)

  • JULY 8: Parent Update #4, with FINAL PLANS
  • JULY 8-JULY 12: Parents respond to survey, selecting DIGITAL or TRADITIONAL for each student in their family
  • JULY 30: Students return to school. Instruction begins in the classroom and online.


**All Back-to-School communication from the district office is available for review on the district website: https://www.maryville-schools.org/central-office/coordinated-school-health/covid-19-coronavirus

ANNUAL STUDENT VERIFICATION PROCESS

If you have ever filled out all the "back to school" PAPER documentation for your students, you know that our online student verification process is a HUGE improvement. In addition to verifying the information for each of your children and updating your contact information for emergency and communication purposes, device deployment requirements are now rolled into verification - so iREACH device deployment is done online and at school. YEAH!


All returning families and newly registered families should have received a SNAPCODE via email on July 6 or 7. Step-by-step instructions for completing the process are included in the email. If you did not receive a SNAPCODE, please contact your school below. Please set aside some time to complete this process as soon as possible.


(Note: If your email is not listed as the primary contact on the student account, please check with that person to ensure someone is planning to respond.)



When you are ready to pay your iREACH User Charge, simply link here: http://www.bitly.com/usercharge

PARENT AND GUARDIAN

** TO DO LIST **

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SURVEY

Select the appropriate INSTRUCTIONAL OPTION for each of your children in the new school year. LINK HERE
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VERIFICATION

Complete the ANNUAL RETURNING STUDENT VERIFICATION process. If you did not receive a SNAPCODE, please contact your school. LINK HERE
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PAY USER CHARGE (Grades 4-12)

Go online to pay your iReach User Charge. LINK HERE