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USD 320 CURRENT MASKING MANDATES & CRITERIA
COVID UPDATE 1.14.22
Masks will be required in all USD 320 classrooms next week.
Calling off School
It goes without saying, we are in the middle of a "viral blizzard." A popular question of late has been when will school be called off due to illness? School will be called off when we are not able to staff and safely supervise classrooms. Unfortunately, this is not a situation where closing school for a long weekend will clear the virus. This virus has a 14-day incubation period meaning people who have come into contact with a positive person will continue to get ill while the schools are closed. Also, as we have found out to be true, this virus is HIGHLY transmissible; if people do not stay home and out of contact with each other during the period of time that the schools were to be closed, the virus will continue to be transmitted.
We do have two areas where we have critically thin margins of personnel: food service and transportation.
As you were alerted last week, and being reminded here again, just a few bus drivers testing positive will have a significant effect on our ability to transports students to and from school. If it is not possible for us to run a route or routes we will do our best to inform you as soon as possible.
In regard to food service, we are prepared to move to sack lunches and more "cold food" which will require fewer people to prepare and serve. Also, volunteers may be requested to help with the preparation and serving.
All of our school personnel are going above and beyond as we deal with this rolling illness; their workloads have increased significantly; please be as understanding as possible as we work our way through this crisis.
New Guidelines
As most of you know, there are new guidelines for shorter quarantine and isolation. We were provided the new information earlier this week and we have been working on a plan to implement them. We had delayed sending out this weekly update in hopes we could share the new guidelines and their implementation. However, they are still a work in progress as more information is coming to us. We plan to share the new regulations and implementation before the return to school on Tuesday, January 18.
Testing Center
The USD 320 Testing Center will be closed on Monday, January 17. Here is a summary of the testing done at our Center since our return from the winter break: Test Center
Our test center personnel have been on the run, literally, for the last two weeks; their work in helping us keep students and staff in school has been outstanding. Due to the large number of people being tested, we are simply unable to keep up with the sheer volume of testing that is being required. There will be changes in the testing program, and they will be shared when the new isolation and quarantine regulations are shared.
Please help!
Please read this joint letter from the Wamego Hospital CEO & the Health Officer for Pottawattamie County. Letter
A link to the Covid criteria as of 1.13.22 is below:
Current COVID-19 Masking Criteria
Modified Quarantine KDHE Guidelines For K-12 Schools
