RETURN TO LEARN PLAN

The Clinton Community School District has submitted its “Return to Learn” plan to the Iowa Department of Education and it has been approved.  The plan addresses a plan for having all students onsite following Iowa Department of Public Health guidelines, a second plan of providing online learning for all students with supports for social-emotional and equity considerations, or a third plan that is a hybrid of the first two.

The hope of the district is to have as many students onsite as possible on August 17.  We have been planning on implementing best practice,  recommendations for personal protective equipment (PPE),  and rigorous sanitation procedures.

The district is currently determining its expectations in terms of face coverings.  The national discussion and the recent research on face coverings along with the state trends of COVID-19 infections is a moving target.  Many of the district discussions with health officials is about the expectation and feasibility of wearing face coverings with the age of the student.

The recommendation of the health professionals is to have families take temperatures of students from home.  Any students or staff with temperatures at 100.4 degrees or higher are required to stay at home.

The school district has invested in a bio-static product that lasts between 60-90 days and kills the coronavirus on contact.  It will be applied on all high contact areas such as keyboards of laptops, desktops, door handles, buses, etc.  The district will also do a daily cleaning of these areas to follow best practice.

Each school will be implementing sanitation routines throughout the day.  The school district has purchased  hand sanitizers at 70% alcohol solution which is the recommendation to kill COVID-19.  These routines will become a systematic part of the day.

When students are physically present at school, each building will be implementing social distancing guidelines to the best of our ability.  One major recommendation is to seat students in one direction to limit face to face situations where one student may cough.  Classroom space will be maximized for the most space available between students.

The district has also planned for families or students that have health factors that place them “high risk” with exposure to COVID-19.  We have entered an agreement with Edgenuity, an online platform that aligns with the district standards and benchmarks that is supported by Iowa licensed teachers.  Please contact me at tbratcher@clintonia.org if you have interest and would like to discuss if this is the best option for your child.

With the situation being so fluid, I will continue to update you as planning for the new school year approaches.

Thank you for your support of Clinton Schools!