Students and their families will be quarantined for 14 days if a student in the household tests positive for COVID-19, according to a school reopening agreement between each public Logan County school.
Bellefontaine, Riverside, Indian Lake and Benjamin Logan have worked together to develop reopening frameworks that are consistent in each local public school, and those final plans for bringing students back to in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year were released Wednesday.
The Logan County Schools Common Reopening Plan Agreement was also developed in collaboration with the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center; Ohio Hi-Point Career Center; the Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities; and the Logan County Health District, and provides consistent guidelines for how teachers and students will interact upon resumption of in-person learning, as well as protocols in the event a student shows up to school with symptoms or if students or staff members test positive for COVID-19.
“The purpose of the countywide plan is to inform parents of safety protocols that will be in place for the start of school during the COVID-19 pandemic or until new guidance regarding school operations is released,” according to an announcement from Indian Lake Schools.
Teachers will wear face coverings anytime they are within six-feet of a student.
Parents are encouraged, but not required, to send their children to schools with face coverings.
Bus drivers must wear masks at all times. Seating charts on buses are recommended to assist with contact tracing, if necessary.
Schools have also agreed to cooperate with contact tracing of positive virus tests in conjunction with the health district.
Communication of a positive COVID-19 test within a school will come from the health district, not the school. Notification from LCHD will specify to parents which classroom the confirmed case was in.
A 14-day quarantine will also be required of any staff member who is determined to have “exposure” to the virus as determined by the health district.
For any student set to return to school following a positive test and subsequent quarantine, a symptoms-and temperature check from the school nurse still will be necessary.
Districts will continue to offer food service, with logistics left up to each individual school.
Parents that select remote learning for their children must agree to remote learning attendance guidelines or a return to face-to-face instruction will be necessary.
In accordance with the guidelines, schools agree to, “implement recommended safety protocols to the highest-degree possible,” as well as to, “work closely with (LCHD) to promote safety in each school building.”