School Matters 09/16/2021

This school year may be another challenging process, but we are committed to doing all that we can to make this a safe and productive year for your child. We are here to serve our community and we take this responsibility seriously. One of the most important ways we can do this is to ensure we keep our community informed. The intent of these articles is to keep our community informed about important school events and initiatives. We apologize in advance for the length of this article but much is happening within the schools. Please take a moment to review the following and contact us if you have any questions. We will answer those concerns in our next article. Please email Mrs. Karlene Webb (webbk@hcboe.net) with any concerns or questions.

1. We are posting the number of positive cases on our district website by school and grade level. We have attempted to update this posting daily but have missed a few days because key personnel were out who input this data. We now have multiple staff responsible to input data, so the numbers should be updated on a daily basis.

2. We are experiencing some of the largest numbers of positive cases since the pandemic started last year. This year, we have seen a total of 354 cases since the start of the school year. Currently, we have approximately 229 total active cases. Of those active cases, 214 are students and 15 are staff. We have approximately 560 students quarantined.

3. Some experts, and some modeling of the virus spread, have predicted this surge will burn intense for the next 45 days but will burn out quickly. We are not confident the models, nor the experts are correct, but this quick passage has proven to be the case in other areas of the nation and world. Perhaps we could return back to some sense of normal if we can endure the next 45 days.

4. The County Commission approved a funding resolution this week for the construction of a new Lincoln Elementary School. There are still several steps associated with the issuance of bonds, but we sincerely appreciate the support of the commission. Currently, Lincoln Elementary is an open-classroom concept which creates a number of safety and instructional issues. A new elementary school will be constructed on a 34-acre site off of Dr. Martin Luther King near the Gateway Service Park if funding is eventually approved.

5. There are a number of concerns and questions from parents and students this year. We will conduct a virtual community forum on August 30 at 6:00 p.m. to respond to those questions. We ask parents to email questions to Mrs. Webb (webbk@hcboe.net) prior to the meeting, or they can present questions during the meeting. We will post the link for this virtual community forum next week, and it will be live. The primary purpose of this meeting is to allow parents to voice their concerns and to ask questions. The meeting will not be interactive in that participants will be able to voice their concerns, but we will take questions and concerns through the chat feature. You may call Mrs. Webb at 423-581-3101 if you struggle with technology, and we will take your questions and help you get on the virtual forum.

6. We have changed our October Board meeting to the third Tuesday in the month (October 19) because we are out on Fall Break during the second Tuesday which is our normal meeting time.

7. Many superintendents want schools to have a virtual option this year, but the state has placed so many restrictions on virtual programming that it is not feasible for many of us to have such a program. The staffing and financial requirements are extremely rigid and were developed specifically to prevent us from having virtual options. Parents who are interested in virtual education should contact any state official to encourage them to change policies and guidelines. This would include State House of Representatives, State Senators, State Department of Education, and the State Board of Education.

8. We are experiencing significant spikes in the number of positive cases/quarantines in specific schools, grade levels, and classrooms throughout the district. However, it is important to note that some schools have not yet reported a single positive case, so the spread of the virus is not having the same impact on all our schools. The number of positive cases, in conjunction with the number of quarantined students, may eventually affect our ability to effectively deliver instruction in a classroom environment. Clearly, these increases will have an impact on our ability to ensure the health and well-being of staff and students.

We will provide a temporary optional virtual program in those schools, grade levels, and classrooms in which the principal, in conjunction with the central office, deems an optional virtual program is necessary. We will encourage all identified students (in that classroom, grade level, or school) to participate virtually when we implement the optional virtual program. However, school will be open for students who are unable to function well with virtual instruction, and they can attend school as long as they are symptom free.

This optional virtual program will only be designed for a short period of time and will normally extend about 7 days. We may extend the 7-day period to 8 days if the 7^th day falls on a Thursday so that we would not bring students back on a Friday. This 7-day period will enable us to more effectively identify those students as being positive because they will have time to present symptoms. It is our hope this will allow us to stop the spread of the virus when it becomes rampant in any specific location.

Students who are in this optional virtual program will still have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular events as long as they complete all necessary assignments and are in good standing with the school. Students may not return to school, or participate in extracurricular events, if they are presenting symptoms or if they have been quarantined by the school.

We are not creating a district-wide virtual education option at this time because some schools have no cases at this point. In addition, the state has placed severe restrictions on how public schools can operate virtual programs this year. We are not allowed to conduct virtual programming like we did last year. We are not in agreement with these restrictions, and we are actively attempting to change those regulations. However, we will create a temporary virtual option when it is needed and appropriate. We will notify all parents of this optional virtual program at least a day in advance so they will have time to make a decision to attend virtually or in-person. We will provide laptops and have access to personal Wi-Fi devices, if needed, for the short duration of time.

This is not intended to be a permanent solution because we are limited by state regulations on the amount and type of virtual education we can provide. However, we do think it may help to address those specific schools, grade levels, or classrooms which are experiencing high rates of quarantine and positive cases.

9. At the beginning of last year, the health department was primarily responsible for all contact tracing. This meant the health department was responsible for calling each positive case to determine who else was potentially infected by that person. The health department became overwhelmed with this task, so we began to help with contact tracing. As the number of cases grew, the responsibility of contact tracing shifted from the health department, and the schools assumed responsibility for virtually all the contact tracing from the school level. This consumes an enormous amount of time and resources.

This year, the majority of school districts in the state have notified their health departments that the schools can no longer shoulder this responsibility. They have notified the health department they will no longer take primary responsible for contact tracing. Schools have also been advised by legal counsel that they probably should not take on the sole responsibility for making these types of medical decisions. We can still assist the health departments, but we should not be the sole determination.

We are making the following changes to the quarantining of students in school. Please review and contact us if you have any questions:

a. We have notified the health department that we will no longer contact trace within the schools. We have discovered that accurately contact tracing students at school is very difficult because of the multiple transitions. In addition, students are highly mobile and interactive after school which creates multiple opportunities for infection that we have no knowledge of.

b. We will no longer recommend quarantining high school or middle school students. The parent must quarantine their student if the health department contacts them and requires a quarantine period.

c. We will continue to conduct preliminary contact tracing at the elementary level because students are in closer contact. Students testing positive will still be sent home. We will notify parents of children who were in close contact with a child testing positive at the elementary level. The parent will have the option of quarantining their child if they so desire. The parent must quarantine their student if the child begins to present symptoms or if the health department requires a quarantine period.

d. We will still notify the health department of a student testing positive and provide them with a list of all household family members. The health department will contact the person testing positive and provide direction on how many days are needed to quarantine.

e. We will notify all parents that a positive case has been identified in their school by posting the numbers by school and grade levels on our district webpage.

f. The health department will provide a letter to the parent stating a child needs to be quarantined if the investigation determines the child was potentially infected. A child will not be counted absent if the parent produces that letter. Parents can contact the COVID Hotline at 865-549-5343 to discuss a potential exposure and request that letter. However, the child will be counted absent if a letter is not provided or if the parent cannot provide some other evidence the child needs to be quarantined.

g. Students who were sent home during the week of August 16–20 for contact tracing by the school may return to school on August 23 if they are symptom free and if the health department has not required quarantine. This would not include students who were quarantined for household contacts or who tested positive. This would impact only those students who were sent home by the school due to contact tracing.

10. As we stated above, we are unable to provide virtual educational programming like we did last year. The state changed the rules which has effectively prevented us from adopting a virtual program this year. We understand that some families have either medically compromised students or a parent/guardian who is medically compromised in the home. Homebound instruction may be an option for some of these children.

Homebound instruction has rigid guidelines and criteria that students must meet before being eligible for homebound services. Not all students will be eligible for this program, but it could be an option for those with extreme medical conditions. This will not be a fully-supported instructional program but would require the student to be extremely self-disciplined, motivated, and able to function independently to complete daily work from the school. This would only be approximately 3 hours of virtual instruction support per week. In addition, this is not designed for the remainder of the year but would be revisited every 30–45 days depending on the situation. Parents must have the treating physician (this must be a M.D. and must be the treating physician) complete the paperwork certifying the child has a legitimate medical issue preventing them from coming to school. Students who enter these services will not be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities.

We have been forced to make a number of difficult decisions this year because of multiple state restrictions and changes. We are doing all that we can to balance the need for safety and ensuring students receive a quality education. Thanks for your attention to this article and remember, School Matters!