Quote to consider:
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou
To Dos:
CDL ON FRIDAY: As you know, Friday this week will be a CDL day for students following the Wednesday WebEx schedule. Remote classes this day will only be for cohort B (last name L-Z) students [unlike Wednesday’s WebEx classes which will be combined A and B cohorts]. Please communicate this adjustment to your students on Tuesday in all classes.
LIVE SUPPORT: Assuming a limited number of students will be attending “live support” sessions this week, please use this time as thoughtful outreach to students and families that may need to access it in the future. Additionally, due timing overlap, live support session will not take place on Friday.
Bits and Bobs:
STAFF ABSENCE: For any staff absence during student contact time, please enter your substitute request as in the past. The office staff and admin will follow this flowchart when working to fill your absence. Remember to let Nole and/or Nurse Megan if any absence is illness related.
BLS LIBRARY RESOURCE: As you know, February is Black History Month. Check out this blog post regarding some highlighted Black authors and recommended videos that could be used for instruction this (or any) month.
FAQ: Here are some questions regarding quarantining that the Sky View team asked and Paul Dean and Tami Pike responded to:
- If there is a positive case in a school, all families are given notification?
- All families and staff are notified (see last week’s HDMS family communication for an example).
- Only students/staff who were close contacts of the positive case subject will need to quarantine?
- YES
- Only students/staff who were close contacts of the positive case subject will be notified that they shared a space/class/etc. with the close contact?
- YES
- Close contacts are those within 6 ft. for 15+ minutes total in a day?
- YES, in most instances. If a staff person or student is unsure about whether or not they meet the close contact criteria, more than likely quarantine will be warranted. The contact tracing team will determine.
- Staff should not fill out entire class lists as close contacts just because they have them for 65 minutes.
- Correct
RAPID TESTING: The latest RSSL updates requires schools to have the capacity to offer rapid COVID-19 tests (BiomaxNOW) available to symptomatic students/staff by March 1. Here is the district’s rollout timing:
- Week of Feb 1 and 8: District personnel attend OHA trainings and develop district and school based protocols
- Week of February 16: Information sessions for school personnel; BiomaxNOW registration and testing kiit ordered by each school.
- Week of February 22: Final site coordinator and testing facilitator Q&A
- Week of March 1: Testing available for symptomatic students/staff at each school site
Reminders:
HYBRID DUTY SCHEDULE: Please plan to be in your hallway duty location during the passing period prior to your prep period each day; the duty schedule has been added to the hot links on the right hand side of the blog.
SPANISH INTERPRETER: Consider signing up for a timeslot for this Wednesday from 1:30-4:00pm to make connections with our Spanish speaking families. These connections can be setup ahead of time and/or cold calls. Use the link on the sidebar of the blog to sign up by Tuesday at 9:00am.
STAFF MEETING: Mark your calendars for our next staff meeting: 8:45am on Thursday (2/11) in Kennedy’s WebEx room.
High Desert Highlights:
