A Letter to Parents: General Information Regarding Fall 2020
As difficult as it was to end the 2019-20 school year early, I think the difficulty with 2020-21 will be adapting as we go. I am confident that we will begin on August 13. I am also confident the year will see a lot of adjusting and necessary flexibility. We will do our best for our students while keeping in mind that the safety of our students and staff is paramount.
I have served on numerous statewide committees on the re-opening of schools. Much of the precautions will come down to spacing, sanitizing, washing hands, disinfecting, and staying home if ill.
The purpose of this letter is to provide some general information and thoughts.
Below are some important topics I would like to note:
*Students that are ill, must stay home. We need a great deal of partnership with parents. Please do temperature checks at home if you suspect your child is ill, and do not send your child to school should they have a temperature of 100.4 or higher. If students have a bad cough, they need to stay home from school.
*We will be proactive from the beginning of school on temperature checks for admittance and limiting grouping. Students will be screened at main entrances daily. Any temperature of 100.4 or higher will result in that student needing to return home if the temperature is still high after 10 minutes of isolation in the office. We would ask all students to remain home until they are fever free for 48 hours.
*I don’t know that COVID-19 will close the school this year, but for example, it is possible if 3-5 fourth graders contract the virus, we would shut down that grade for a short time without closing the entire school.
*No students will be allowed in either building prior to 7:45am. Elementary students that ride the bus from the high school to Diller in the morning, will need to report directly to the bus. They will not be admitted to the HS in the mornings. Breakfast will be available at the elementary for those that want it.
*We encourage grade 7-12 student to not to arrive to school until 8:00am.
*Grouping of students will be limited and consistent.
*Masks are highly recommended to students and staff. The issue is evolving and they may become required as they help prevent the spread of the virus.
*An example of another importance of mask wearing: If a student does test positive and has to be home until negative, as Public Health Officials come in to contract trace around the positive student, it is less likely that other students will have to be removed from school if they wear a mask in school. That may be crucial regarding student’s participation in activities.
*We plan on running the bus routes as normal as possible. However, siblings will be seated together, routes will be consistent, seating will be assigned, students will be spaced as much as possible, and masks are highly recommended. You may prefer to take your child to school and pick them up. If that is the case, please make sure the driver knows.
*We may be confronted with a situation that we cannot run some routes on some days due to a shortage of bus drivers.
*With our student enrollment numbers, we are small enough to not have to have a schedule to limit attendance on certain days. Larger schools may have determined grades report on determined days if needed. We won’t need to do that. We may however need to share teachers in some cases at the HS, or if there are no substitutes available, not have class for certain grades at the elementary. On difficult days like that, we will not pack 35 kids into one room. As noted we will have to be flexible and adjust the best we can without seeing a closure of the school. Teachers will have a plan to stay in touch with students should we not be in school for any time period.
* I do not plan to tie our school district to a “risk dial” from a large area, and there won’t be a “risk dial” for every school. Cases that may be occurring in Crete, don’t necessarily factor in to Diller-Odell School being in session. We will use the best information we have from public health officials in making decisions for our school district. Much like when weather is bad, we will make a determination for our school district.
I am glad we are going to be back with in person learning, and am confident that we will have a very successful school year. I expect everyone’s best efforts. Cooperation and being pleasant go a long way when there is uncertainty.
Mr. Mike Meyerle, Superintendent