Gibbon Nation. There seems to be some confusion surrounding the district's Return to School's Protocols, a letter shared by our building principals, and a decision-making process approved during September's Regular Board Meeting. The confusion is related to a perception that protocols have changed and questions whether or not we are being loyal to following a set of protocols. In other words, what set of protocols is the district actually using when making decisions. I'm hoping to clear up this confusion by sharing the following information.
The protocols that guide decisions during this pandemic is found on the district's website. Here is a link for your convenience - https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws... This 40-page document is what our patrons and families should become familiar with. Information about maintaining health and safety, quarantines, attendance, collaboration with public health officials, instruction, and much more can be found inside this document. These have been in place since the summer of 2020 and continue to serve as our guide when making decisions during this pandemic.
The protocols have been modified twice since they were originally introduced to the district in the summer of 2020. The first modification came this summer when the federal government outlined additional requirements for a school district's Return to School Plan. Those were shared with the community on June 14th. The second set of modifications occurred when the board adopted strategies for making decisions to wear masks during September's regular board meeting. Both sets of modifications are not a "new" set of protocols but rather fold into the original set of protocols. The modifications strengthen the decision-making process, and reflects the requirements of the federal government while honoring the board of education's role in making decisions about masks, closing school, and moving to remote learning.
For example, during a recent event we deployed the following protocols. All are found within the Return to Schools Protocols document. They included -
1) Collecting information from parents and the positive case, 2) contacting members of the Review Panel, 3) visiting with the Two Rivers Public Health Department, 4) decision to quarantine, 5) using ZOOM to promote teaching and learning for students quarantined at home, 6) temporarily moving to masks, and, 7) conducting a 14-day review. Each step can be found within that 40-page document.
I hope this helps clarify any piece of information that may have caused some confusion, AND, confirms that we are following a set of protocols. A set of protocols that have been in place for over one year. Please call the office to seek clarification or collect additional information whenever you have questions. We prefer face-to-face conversations whenever possible. This helps eliminate misunderstanding, perceptions regarding tone of message, provides opportunities to clarify or seek more information to understand, and helps crystallize how the district approaches the decision-making process.