COVID Update - September 4, 2020
Greenback Family,
We were informed by the Health Department of our first student testing positive for COVID-19. I want to take this opportunity to explain our process. Under our COVID tab, we have a “COVID flowchart for student” document, which goes through our decision making and communication process.
We will send a text message to all parents (make sure you are opted in to receiving text messages) who have a child in the same school that has been informed it has a COVID positive student. For those students with more direct contact, we will communicate in more depth.
At the elementary school level, we will call parents individually and explain our modified quarantine option since we would need to quarantine a stable grouping (a class) for 14 days and parents may choose our modified quarantine option.
At the secondary level (5th-12th) we would individually call the parents of students in the same stable lunch group (students have stable lunch seating so we can more readily do contact tracing and limit who must quarantine) as the student who has tested positive for COVID-19. Again, we have a modified quarantine option that can be chosen or the student can participate in school remotely for the duration of the quarantine period. For students who sit 4-6 feet from the COVID positive student per our classroom seating charts, we would do a specific school message call to give that heads up so parents can be especially watchful for symptoms. Those students are not required to be quarantined—this is one advantage of masking--but if a parent chooses remote learning for that time period, we will certainly accommodate that request.
With the numbers in the country and state, we understand that this will not be the last time a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. Our goal is to reduce the risk of a community outbreak while still providing opportunities for children to grow in a healthy manner. I do not want us to live in fear. Yes, there is understandable anxiety and we will work to keep our schools safe. Cleaning is always a priority and we will do a deep cleaning where appropriate to mitigate any contact spread.
We appreciate your patience. Our smiles might be hidden a bit by the masks, but we are very happy to have our students back with us. Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Respectfully,
Tony Helfrich
Superintendent
Pratt Schools USD 382
