JISD releases its COVID plan

With just more than a month left until school starts, Jacksboro Independent School District released its plan of action concerning COVID-19 and how to keep everyone safe during its July 13 meeting.

Superintendent Dwain Milam said the district will be working with parents on having students come back to school as well as an asynchronous (work from home) approach. Asynchronous is similar to what the district did the last three months of last year where students can log in but there will be no worksheet packets and the work will be much more challenging like a regular school year.

Milam said his daughter was finishing a week’s work of work in a day during the last part of school, which won’t be the case this year. Students will be required to log in every day and show they are being an active participant in class.

“It’s doable but very very challenging and there will be some definite issues,” Milam said. “There’s nothing like instruction with a student in a classroom and being able to look in their faces to see if they’re understanding it or not.”

If students are not logging in and taking an active role at home, truancy court will apply. Milam said switching from in-person to virtual can be done. Board Vice President David Spiller asked for an estimate on how many students would be going virtual and was told approximately 15 percent if what Region 9 is saying is correct.

Two board members thought the coming back numbers would be higher.

“Once they get in the reality of the mix, they’ll be coming back to school,” Martha Salmon explained.

“Parents need to go back to work, so they’ll be coming back,” Board member Kelly Mower noted.

What to expect

All district employees will be screened every day. Screening of students is not required and must be done by the parents, Milam said. The district will handle visitors with more window uses at the office to determine what is needed and to keep travel throughout the school at a minimum.

Any individuals who have symptoms for COVID or are lab confirmed with the virus cannot return to school unless three criteria are met:

• At least 72 hours have passed since recovery (no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.

• symptom improvement (no cough, shortness of breath

• at least 10 days have passed since the first symptoms.

If subject wants to return to school before completing the stay at home period, the individual must:

• obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual based on an alternative diagnosis or

• Receive two confirmations at least 24 hours apart that they are free of COVID via acute infection tests at an approved testing location.

On campus when identifying cover cases on campus, schools must separate any student who shows symptoms until the student can be picked up by a parent or guardian. Areas used by the individual who shows symptoms while at school as soon as feasible. Students feeling feverish should be given an immediate temperature to determine if they are symptomatic for the virus.

Preventing the virus

To protect against the virus, hand sanitizer and/or hand washing stations with soap and water will attempt to be at every entrance and in every classroom with everyone encouraged to sanitize and wash hands frequently.

Supervised hand washing, when feasible, will be done for at least 20 seconds twice a day. Frequent cleaning practices, including additional cleaning by janitorial staff will take place throughout the day. Students will also be given the opportunity to clean their spaces before and after they are used.

Common spaces such as door handles, common tables/desks, shared supplies such as art supplies, shared laptops.

When possible, schools will open windows or work to improve airflow by allowing outside air to circulate in the building.

Masks are required to comply with the governor’s executive order but since the county has less than 20 active cases, Jack County is not required right now.

As classroom space allows, however, desks will be distanced as much as practical with more frequent handwashing.

Use of non classroom spaces

When feasible and appropriate, it is preferable for students to gather outside because of the likely reduced risk of virus being spread outside. Each campus will develop a plan for entry, exit and transition procedures that reduce large group gatherings in close proximity while considering local conditions in planning assemblies and activities that bring large groups together.

On the bus, students and staff will be required to use sanitizer before boarding. Families are encouraged to drop students off, carpool, or with their student to school to reduce virus exposure on the bus.

Buses will be thoroughly cleaned after each trip, focusing on seats, steering wheels, knobs, and door handles. windows will be opened to allow for ventilation and air flow.

Visiting school

Parents and other adults can visit schools as permitted by normal policies but must follow virus prevention and mitigation requirements. Access will be restricted to students and staff to those essential to school operations and academic progress.

Campus Specific Procedures JES

Jacksboro Elementary will have all K-5th grade students report to their classrooms as they arrive at school. Pre-K students will report to the gym when they arrive at school.

Each grade level will enter through the following locations.

Pre-K and grades 3-5 will enter through the west side with grades K, 1-2 entering on the south side of the building. Parents/Guardians may walk their student(s) to the door at each location, but are not allowed into the hallways due to the health, safety, and security of our campus. Arrival and Dismissal procedures are posted on the Elementary School website.

Breakfast/Lunch

Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade students will eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria at designated, staggered times with their homeroom class. 2nd grade through 5th grade students will be served and eat breakfast and lunch in their classrooms.

Parents/guardians are allowed to eat lunch with their student(s). All visitors, including parents/ guardians must check in at the front office and must be screened for COVID-19 before entering the building. We will have designated areas for parents/guardians to eat lunch with their own children.

Transitions between classes

All students will be taught to walk on the right side of the hallway between classes and activities. Classes will be kept together during transitions to limit the amount of student interaction among class groups and grade levels.

Classroom Settings

To the best of our abilities, we will space students in classrooms while receiving instruction. Some classroom settings will be limited to the amount of distance between students. All classrooms will have assigned seating for each student so that the school can once again limit the interaction among groups of students.

Specials (PE, Art, Computers, Music)

Specials activities will be split by homeroom classes to limit the amount of interaction among class groups. When weather permits, PE activities will utilize outside activities.

Recess

Students will engage in recess activities with their homeroom classes to limit the amount of interaction among class groups. We will split recess areas into zones and rotate the zones each week.

Dismissal

We will begin releasing students at 3:30pm. Students will be picked up from the same location that they are dropped off in the mornings. Students will be released from their homeroom class and a staff member will walk each student or group of students to their appropriate designated pick-up area. We will utilize the Silent Dismissal program that we used for the 2019- 2020 school year, and parents are required to display their child’s number plate when picking up their student(s). Any student not picked up by 3:45pm will have to be picked up from the front office, and the parent/ guardian must sign the student out. Arrival and Dismissal procedures are posted on the Elementary School website. No parents/guardians are allowed into the building during dismissal procedures.

Visitors

All visitors to our campus must check in at the front office. Visitors will need to provide identification and must also be screened for COVID-19.

Masks

We will comply with the Governor’s executive orders in regards to all masks. As of right now, counties with more than 20 active cases of COVID-19 require the wearing of masks in public places and for anyone 10 and older. Masks are not required of students and staff at this time, but are permitted. If the Governor’s executive orders change, we will notify all constituents of the updated actions and how they relate to our campus, staff, and students.

Jacksboro Middle School

Prior to Coming to School

Students and staff need to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms prior to coming to school each day.

Arrival at School

JMS students will enter the building through the front doors of the round building. Students in athletics will report to their designated areas, as scheduled.

Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria before school, for 6th grade and students not in athletics. Students will sit no more than 6 to a table in the cafeteria. There will be breakfast available for students in athletics at the end of first period.

Lunch periods will be divided by grade level, with seating limited to 6 students per table.

Passing Periods

All students will be encouraged to walk on the right side of the hallway between classes and activities. Transition between classes may be divided by grade/locker area, if needed, to increase space between students at lockers.

JMS Principal Sara Mathis said those with lockers on the top will have the first two minutes of the four-minute passing period while those with bottom lockers will get thew final two minutes of passing.

Classroom Settings

Student work spaces will be spread out, as much as possible, keeping in mind the recommendations of 4-6’ between students. Student work spaces will be cleaned at the beginning and end of each period, by students and staff.

Dismissal

Upon dismissal at 3:30, students will exit the building in the following manner: 6th grade will exit through the gym entrance and 7th/8th grades will exit through the two exits in the round building. Students will be encouraged to not congregate in groups of more than 6 and will be asked to maintain social distancing upon waiting for the bus or parents to pick up.

Visitors to campus

All visitors to JMS must check in at the front office. Visitors will need to provide identification and must also be screened for COVID-19.

Masks

We will comply with the Governor’s executive orders in regards to masks being worn in the building.

Jacksboro High School

Prior to Coming to School

Students need to selfscreen at 8pm the previous night and then again the morning of school for COVID-19 Symptoms. This should include students taking their own temperature.

Entry Into the School Building (Backdoor)

Students will come in the backdoor and be monitored by staff for any symptoms of COVID-19. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, students will have their temperature checked immediately prior to entry into the building. Students need to socially distance themselves as much as possible and do not need to pile into the entryway.

During Passing Periods

Students need to walk on the right hand side of each hallway as well as get from class to class as quickly as possible in order to help restrict the spread of COVID-19. Do not congregate in groups and practice social distancing as much as possible.

Entering/Exiting Classrooms

Teachers will spray desks and surfaces that will be used, and students will need to grab a paper towel and sanitize the area they are going to be using. Prior to the bell that ends class, the teacher will spray desks and surfaces that were used, and again, students will need to wipe down and sanitize the areas they used. This will be done at the beginning and end of each class period.

Breakfast/Lunch

As with entering the building, students need to practice social distancing as much as possible while entering the cafeteria and not pile in all at once. There will be no more than 7 students per table, and once a student gets their food and sits down, they need to stay at that table for the duration of the lunch period. For the breakfast break, students are allowed to eat in classrooms or other common areas so long as they are practicing social distancing. If not at a lunch table, do not form in groups of more than 7.