Planning To Reopen - Our Schools, Communication and Planning for Cases

8/10/2020 (Permalink)

As the state, local communities and families struggle to understand and plan for the best, safest, course of action to take regarding the reopening of our schools we will be doing our best to share with our communities the most up-to-date guidance regarding best practices to reopen our school systems in the most responsible and safe way possible.

According to the CDC, in lieu of a vaccine or therapeutic drug, mitigation is the greatest weapon communities can wield to slow the spread of a virus with pandemic potential such as COVID-19. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new (and some data suggests evolving) coronavirus.

The following highlights CDC's guidelines for regular communication between community leaders and parents as well as the anticipation of and planning for potential cases of COVID-19.

NOTE: COVID-19 is highly transmissible. Individuals should follow these universal precautions regardless of the extent of mitigation needed:

1. Follow healthy hygiene practices
2. Stay at home when sick
3. Practice social distancing 
4. Use a cloth face covering (with some exceptions) in community settings when physical distancing cannot be maintained.

As always, work with your local health officials to determine a set of strategies appropriate for your community’s situation.

(See our "Planning to Reopen series of blogs for more information regarding CDC, EPA, FDA, Mass EEA and OSHA safety requirements). To review the administration's reopening guidance from the state click here. To view Governor Baker's full report click here).

Communicate with Families, Staff, and other Stakeholders

When preparing to go back to school, regular communication should be used to update students, families, teachers, and staff about academic standards, meal program services, and access to other school-based essential services that students and families rely on.

Regular communication with families, staff, and other partners should include:

1. Updates about the status of COVID-19 in the school and community
2. Notification when there are COVID-19 cases in the school (when communicating about the health status of students, schools should take care to avoid disclosing personally identifiable information and should follow all applicable privacy requirements, including those of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
3. Explanation of what parents, students, teachers, and staff can expect when returning to school; in particular, communicating about:
   1. The importance of staying home when sick and staying home to monitor symptoms if close contact occurred with a person who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
   2. Considerations for COVID-19 symptom screenings
   3. Types of social distancing measures being implemented
   4. When students, teachers, staff and/or visitors will be expected to wear cloth face coverings and whether cloth face coverings will be available from the school.
   5. Everyday healthy hygiene practices that will be implemented upon reopening (e.g., students, teachers, staff staying home when sick, hand hygiene, cleaning frequently touched surfaces)
4. Actions being taken to prevent SARS-Cov-2 transmission in buses, school buildings and facilities
5. Actions that families and households can take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19
6. Actions families can take to manage anxiety about COVID-19
7. Decisions about operational status, potential use of virtual learning if COVID-19 cases are identified among students, teachers, or staff, and
8. Guidance on caring for someone who is sick and for parents, guardians, and caregivers who are sick
9. Guidance on how to reduce stigma. Fear and anxiety about a disease can lead to social stigma, which is negative attitudes and beliefs toward people, places, or things

Families and students who had to make alternative arrangements with community providers to receive services (e.g., physical or occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health services) during periods of school closures may need additional support and communication to establish a transition plan upon returning to school. Additionally, some families may have experienced significant hardship that now increases the number of students who need or qualify for some services, such as school meal programs. Schools can take actions to identify, support, and communicate with families who need to initiate new services as schools prepare to open.  Administrators can work with community partners to plan for additional school-based services and programs during the transition back to normal schedules in anticipation of an increased need for mental health services.

Expect, and Plan for, Cases of COVID-19 in Communities

International experiences have demonstrated that even when a school carefully coordinates, plans, and prepares, cases may still occur within the community and schools. Expecting and planning for the occurrence of cases of COVID-19 in communities can help everyone be prepared for when a case or multiple cases are identified.

Schools should be prepared for COVID-19 cases and exposure to occur in their facilities. Collaborating with local health officials will continue to be important once students are back to school, as they can provide regular updates about the status of COVID-19 in the community and help support and maintain the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and staff. Having a plan in place for maintaining academic instruction and ensuring students have access to special services is also critical.

Making Decisions About School Operations

Administrators should make decisions in collaboration with local health officials based on a number of factors, including the level of community transmission, whether cases are identified among students, teachers, or staff, what other indicators local public health officials are using to assess the status of COVID-19, and whether student, teacher, and staff cohorts are being implemented within the school.

There are specific strategies schools can implement based on the level of community transmission reported by local health officials:

1. If there is no to minimal community transmission, reinforcing everyday preventive actions, ensuring proper ventilation within school facilities, including buses, and maintaining cleaning and disinfection practices remain important. These actions can help minimize potential exposure. Schools should also monitor absenteeism among teachers, staff, and students to identify trends and determine if absences are due to COVID-19, symptoms that led to quarantine, concerns about being in the school environment and personal health and safety, or positive test results. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should stay home and self-isolate for the timeframe recommended by public health officials. Anyone who has had close contact with someone who has tested positive or is symptomatic for COVID-19 should be tested and stay home until receiving a negative result, or stay home and monitor for symptoms.
2. If there is minimal to moderate community transmission, schools should follow the actions listed above, and continue implementing mitigation strategies such as social distancing, use of cloth faced coverings, reinforcing everyday preventive actions, and maintaining cleaning and disinfection. This also can include ensuring that student and staff groupings/cohorts are as static as possible and that mixing groups of students and staff is limited.
3. If there is substantial, controlled transmission, significant mitigation strategies are necessary. These include following all the actions listed above and also ensuring that student and staff groupings/cohorts are as static as possible with limited mixing of student and staff groups, field trips and large gatherings and events are canceled, and communal spaces (e.g., cafeterias, media centers) are closed.
4. If there is substantial, uncontrolled transmission, schools should work closely with local health officials to make decisions on whether to maintain school operations. The health, safety, and wellbeing of students, teachers, staff and their families is the most important consideration in determining whether school closure is a necessary step.  Communities can support schools staying open by implementing strategies that decrease a community’s level of transmission. However, if community transmission levels cannot be decreased, school closure is an important consideration. Plans for virtual learning should be in place in the event of a school closure.

Reminder

Each community is unique. Appropriate mitigation strategies should be based on the best available data. Decision making will vary based on the level of community transmission and local circumstances.

1. No one strategy is sufficient.

While the administration continues to work with communities to implement best practices and protocols for reopening our schools we will continue to share with you guidance from the CDC, EPA, FDA, Mass EEA and OSHA and the Governor's office to follow as we prepare for the new school year.

Also, we at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley know that not every community has access to the resources necessary to meet the strict cleaning guidelines to ensure a safe environment for our children. For those communities, we are here to help!

Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned

The Disaster Remediation Teams at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley are specialists in cleaning services and we adhere to the highest cleaning and sanitation standards. We are prepared to clean and disinfect your schools, according to protocols set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have years of experience in dealing with biological contaminants, and we will go beyond the scope of work of "normal daily cleaning". Call SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley today for a free consultation - (617) 332-9000.

All of us here at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley want you and your loved ones to stay safe and know that we will make it through this together! Rest assured, we will continue to do our best to keep you up-to-date and informed!