Neelyville R-IV lays out return to school plans

NEELYVILLE -- After discussions with local health officials, the Neelyville R-IV school district released it’s three-part return to learn plan Tuesday morning focused on getting students back in the classroom.

Under the released plan, there are three options according to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic locally.

Plan A is seated school instruction with health precautions; Plan B is modified school in a blended learning style; and Plan C is fully remote learning.

“I’m very optimistic that we’re going to be able to start school and hopefully continue with Plan A all year long,” Superintendent Debra Parish said.

When on campus, students and staff will be allowed to wear face coverings, but the district currently is not requiring it.

It used CARES Act funding to purchase additional cleaning supplies and increase custodial staff from one full-time and one part-time at the Hillview campus to two full-time and from four to five full-time at the Neelyville campus.

If in-person classes are meeting, staff and students are told to stay home if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19 or took a test and are awaiting results; are showing symptoms; or had recent close contact with somebody who tested positive for the virus.

They should only return to school if they’re received a negative COVID-19 test or have had three days without a fever (without the assistance of medication), had their respiratory symptoms improve and it’s been 14 days since symptoms first appeared.

The district will not implement mass screenings at this time, according to the plan, due to concerns it will create pockets of more heavily populated areas. If a student starts exhibiting symptoms while at school, they’ll be screened by district nursing staff.

Staff members are expected to self-screen.

In efforts to encourage social distancing, during plans A and B, teachers will be told to discourage physical contact among students, prohibit sharing items, eliminate group work when possible, remind students to stay in their own space and reduce the number of students in an area when possible.

Plan A

Under Plan A, which the district plans to open the school year in, buses will run at full capacity. There will be assigned seating when possible, both on buses and on campus, hand sanitizer will be offered at most exterior doors and in all classrooms. Visitors on campus will be limited.

Lunchroom tables, buses and playground equipment will be cleaned on a regular schedule, such as between each group at lunch.

The district will not use drinking fountains and instead students will be given personal water bottles, which can be refilled for upper-level students. Younger students will be given smaller water bottles as needed, Parish said. The district purchased three refilling stations, which will be installed at the Neelyville campus.

“If families want to bring their own, that’s fine in the lower grades. Not in the high school,” Parish said. “For elementary, if a family has a certain bottle they want to use, that’s fine.”

Plan B

Under Plan B, the same protocol will be taken, along with increased social distancing and precautions.

For instance, on buses, students will be separated where feasible with family members seated together.

If they need to limit the number of students on campus at a time, Parish said, there would have to be an A group and a B group, with one attending classes Monday and Tuesday, the other on Thursday and Friday. In this situation, Wednesday would be used for extra cleaning.

“That’s probably what we’d do. It’s not set in stone,” she said. “There would be fewer cleaning issues if we put a day between” than there would be “if we did ABAB.”

Plan C

Under Plan C, students will receive devices and/or assignments will be distributed as needed.

The district used CARES Act funding to increase the number of laptops it owns in case it needs to distribute those to students under a Plan C situation.

All buildings, classrooms and offices will be sanitized and cleaned. Nurses and counselors will be available online and by phone during school hours and any staff required on campus will wear personal protective equipment in accordance with current guidelines.

The reworked alternative methods of instruction plan, Parish said, utilizes Google Classroom for students to have access to lessons and teachers.

If a student has a poor internet connection at home, Parish said, the district is strengthening the connection at both campuses, so students could connect from a car in the parking lot or lessons could be delivered by flash drive for students, who couldn’t get to campus.