At-School Learning - Safety Protocols and Frequently Asked Questions
Launch the media gallery 1 playerThe following questions and answers are intended to help parents/guardians learn more about JPS' At-School option for the 2020-21 school year. As always, this information is subject to change at any time. The first day of at-school learning is Thursday, September 10 for all grade levels. Click here to view the full 2020-21 instructional calendar.
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Return to Learn at JPS – General Guidelines for Staff, Parents and Students
The following information is shared to help everyone in our community understand how Jenks Public Schools is mitigating the risks associated with COVID-19 and how staff members and families can play a role in helping to stop the spread.
Monitor Symptoms
Staff members will be expected to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms prior to reporting to work each day.
Parents/guardians are expected to screen their students for COVID-19 symptoms each day prior to sending their students to school.
If a student begins displaying COVID-19 symptoms at school, he/she should report to the nurse’s office immediately. Parents will be contacted to pick up their child as soon as possible.
People with COVID-19 have reported a variety of symptoms - ranging from mild to severe. Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Families should monitor children and should not send children to school if they have one or more of the following symptoms:
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Fever
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Chills
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Cough
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Headache
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Loss of smell or taste
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Sore throat
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Nausea or vomiting
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Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
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Muscle or body aches
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Congestion or runny nose
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Diarrhea
Exposure and Return to School After COVID-19
Students or staff who come into close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days and may not return to their school site during that time.
What counts as “Close Contact?”
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You spent at least 15 minutes or more at a distance of six feet or closer.
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You had direct physical contact with the person (e.g., handshake, hugging).
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You shared eating or drinking utensils with them.
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You came into contact with their respiratory droplets (e.g., they coughed or sneezed on you).
Any student or staff member who tests positive or has COVID-19 symptoms may return to school after:
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24 hours fever free with no medication AND
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Symptoms have improved AND
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10 days have passed since the first symptoms appeared
Any student or staff member who tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms can return to school after:
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10 days have passed since the test OR
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If you start developing symptoms, refer to the requirements for those who had symptoms (above).
Masks/Face Coverings
All JPS staff members, visitors, and students in grades 3-12 will be required to wear face coverings. Any exceptions require the approval of the site principal.
Students in grades Pre-K-2 are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings as feasible. Masks will be encouraged when social distancing is difficult to accomplish.
Bus Transportation
Regardless of age or grade level, all students are required to wear a mask while riding on a bus. All JPS bus drivers are required to wear a mask. Because socially distancing on a bus is more difficult, masks for all riders and drivers are important in helping to contain respiratory droplets and stop the spread of the virus. All JPS buses will have extra masks and hand sanitizer on board. Buses will be cleaned and disinfected after morning routes are completed and again when afternoon routes are completed.
As students board the bus, they should sit in an available seat closest to the back of the bus. Students getting on the bus should be seated from back to front to reduce the amount of close contact as much as possible.
Access to School Buildings for Parents and Visitors
All individuals entering a school building or JPS facility will be required to wear a mask or face covering. Parents will not be permitted to escort children into the building. Parents must remain in their cars and drive through the drop-off line. Staff members will be stationed outside of the school building to help direct students to their classrooms. Parents who wish to check their student out of school must only enter the main entrance of their child’s building and must wait in the secure entrance area. Parents and visitors will be prohibited from entering hallways, classrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, and other common areas.
Activities and Athletics
Extra-curricular activities, clubs, and athletics play an important role in a student’s educational experience. All school-sponsored activities and athletic teams will continue to adhere to guidelines put in place by the District, as well as recommendations from state and local health agencies. Please reach out to your child’s coach or club sponsor with any questions or concerns. Click here to view frequently asked questions and answers regarding athletic eligibility and return to learn options.
Changes to Start of School Meetings and Activities
Events such as Back To School Night, Meet The Teacher, and Schedule Pick-Up will be significantly altered due to the pandemic. Each one of these events will occur at the discretion of each JPS school site. Please continue to check your email, your child’s school webpage, social media pages, and other communication methods for the very latest school-specific information on events and activities.
Parents/Guardians, at your earliest convenience, please complete the online Back to School registration process. You should have received a letter in the mail with detailed instructions on how to sign in to Registration Gateway to update your information and to make sure your child is registered for the upcoming school year. Registration Gateway will open on Wednesday, July 15. Click here for more information on the online Back to School registration process.
Additional Measures for Disease Mitigation
Hand Washing/Sanitizing
Washing and/or sanitizing hands frequently is one of the easiest ways to protect against infection. Throughout the school day, students will be reminded to wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Students and staff members will also have access to alcohol-based hand sanitizer in classrooms and other common areas. Paper towel dispensers will be added to many restrooms and other areas. Staff will be expected to regularly wash or sanitize hands throughout the day.
Social Distancing
When feasible, school sites will implement social distancing in common areas such as hallways, gyms, and cafeterias.
Cleaning Protocols
During the school day, staff will clean commonly touched surfaces inside classrooms, while maintenance personnel will clean commonly touched surfaces in common areas. At the end of each scheduled event or school day, the District’s cleaning contractor will clean frequently touched surfaces and objects. A CDC approved disinfectant agent is also sprayed through rooms and coats commonly touched surfaces after cleaning.
Classroom Seating
Placing plastic barriers around desks or between desks is simply not feasible. It is not a financially practical solution for the District. Classroom seating will be arranged to allow for as much distance between individual students as possible. However, available classroom space and class sizes will not allow for a 6-foot distance between students.
Meals at School
Students must wash hands or sanitize hands before going through a food line or sitting down to eat in the cafeteria. Students should socially distance while waiting in a food line. No guests will be allowed to have lunch on-site as long as there is still a threat of COVID-19 exposure. Hand sanitizer and hand-sanitizing stations will be added to cafeterias at all school sites.
Supplies
Students will not be allowed to share supplies such as pens, pencils, markers, scissors, or crayons. Any supplies or tools needed to be used by multiple students will be sanitized between uses.
Water Fountains
Each school site will be equipped with water bottle filling stations. Students and staff members are encouraged to bring non-breakable water containers to school.
Air Filters
Improved heating, ventilation and air conditioner filters are being installed in all District buildings that will filter one hundred percent (100%) of a room’s air every eight (8) hours and capture 95% of COVID-19 droplets.
Questions and Answers
What is the difference between “distance learning” and the “virtual option”?
In the event of a site or district closure, students attending school in-person will transition to distance learning. Distance learning classes are taught by the same JPS teacher as the in-person class and will continue to follow the established JPS curriculum.
In the virtual option - also known as the Trojan Connect Program - students opt-in at the beginning of the semester and take all classes online for the remainder of the semester regardless of whether school sites are open or closed. The curriculum in the Trojan Connect Program is generated by Calvert (K-6) or Edgenuity (7-12). A JPS teacher monitors students’ progress and is available via email, however, the JPS teacher is not leading the class or posting assignments. All course work is assigned and completed through the Calvert or Edgenuity platform. Click here to view the Frequently Asked Questions page about the Trojan Connect Program.
Will parents be notified if their child has been in direct contact or close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19?
Yes, the parents will be notified. While JPS must adhere to confidentiality requirements of health information, parents will be notified and provided with as much information as possible.
Will parents be notified when any student at their child’s school has tested positive for COVID-19?
No. Parents will only be notified if their child has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. In cases of secondary or incidental contact, there is no need for quarantine or for any additional action to be taken.
“Close contact” is defined by the CDC as being near a positive individual at a distance of six feet or less for more than 15 minutes.
Should parents notify the school site if their child or someone in the family has tested positive for COVID-19?
Yes. Parents are asked to notify the school and the child should not return to school until they have met the CDC criteria to discontinue home isolation.
If a student tests positive, will only students in surrounding desks need to quarantine or will every student in the classroom be required to quarantine?
Once a positive case is confirmed, JPS will conduct thorough contact tracing and work as quickly as possible to determine which students had close contact with the positive student. Seating charts - at the secondary level - will help JPS determine which students were in close contact. Seating charts will be required in all secondary classrooms and will play a key role in the contact tracing process.
“Close contact” is defined by the CDC as being near a positive individual at a distance of six feet or less for more than 15 minutes.
What happens when a teacher tests positive? Does the entire class need to stay home for 14 days? Will those students immediately transition to distance learning?
Those students determined to have close contact with the teacher will be required to quarantine and transition to distance learning. As stated in the answer above, JPS will conduct thorough contact tracing to determine which individuals had close contact. Those with close contact will be notified.
What if a student misses more than 10 days in a semester due to illness or possible contact with someone who has COVID-19? Will this result in a loss of credit?
No. Both school board policy and state guidelines governing chronic absenteeism allow for exceptions based on serious illness. Students who are required to quarantine or who are ill due to COVID-19 will not be penalized.
How will collaboration days be different this year?
For the 2020-21 school year, District Collaboration Days will be Distance Learning Days for all JPS students. Instead of a late start at all school sites, students will stay home on these dates to participate in distance learning. Teachers will notify students of assignments via Canvas or other digital platforms. On these dates, students enrolled in the Trojan Connect Program (all virtual option) will continue their coursework as normal, while students enrolled in the At-School option or Blended Learning option will participate in distance learning.
JPS staff members will still collaborate on these dates to collaborate, but students will not attend school in-person at any time during these dates.
Distance Learning/Staff Collaboration Dates:
Friday, September 25
Friday, October 30
Friday, December 4
Friday, January 29
Friday, February 26
Friday, March 26
How will the mask requirement for staff and students in grades 3-12 be enforced?
The Board of Education will adopt a policy governing mask-wearing for students, staff, and visitors.
Will students have their temperature taken upon arrival at school?
No. It is not feasible or efficient for staff members to check temperatures of students every day. It is more practical for parents to check temperatures at home and monitor students for symptoms. Children should not be allowed to go to school if they are running a fever or displaying symptoms.
Will field trips take place during the fall semester?
Field trips will not be scheduled until further notice. Teachers will be encouraged to pursue virtual options for students whenever possible. Of course, this guidance could change based on the nature of the pandemic.
Will students have recess?
Yes. Each school site will determine what recess will look like and if/how any restrictions need to be put in place.
If school is disrupted, will meals be available for students/families to pick-up?
Child nutrition services operate under federal guidelines. Meals will be provided for pick-up during distance learning periods as long as this method of service continues to be allowed.
Will extra masks be made available to students riding the bus?
Students should provide their own mask or face covering and bring it to the bus stop each day. The mask or face covering should be treated just like a backpack or an article of clothing - don’t leave home without it. For those who forget, masks will be available on buses in limited quantities.
Will visitors be allowed in school buildings?
Visitors, including parents/guardians, will not be allowed past the school’s front office.