August 28, 2020 - A Reopening Update From Superintendent Dan Wessel (Reopening Guidelines, Gating Criteria, Symptom Flow Chart)
As many of you are aware, the Lansing USD 469 School Board met twice this week to finalize the reopening guidelines and gating criteria. We have worked diligently to come up with plans to keep our students and staff as safe as possible. The safety of our students and staff has been at the top of every decision we have made when creating plans to present to our school board.
There is no answer or plan that will please everyone in our community – we ask for your patience as we navigate this uncharted territory. We also ask that you are respectful of other community members making incredibly difficult decisions for their own families that may be different than your own.
This is a very fluid situation as updated information comes to us daily, and we are working hard to adapt to new information in a rapidly changing environment. In the interest of providing full transparency to the community, I will be providing updates after each board meeting moving forward. You will find recaps of this weeks’ meetings below. I will also be sending a weekly update as needed to keep parents informed. I also ask parents to use the links in this email to guide in making the best decisions for your individual family.
MONDAY, AUGUST 24 MEETING RECAP
The Lansing USD 469 School Board:
- Reviewed and approved the following reopening guidelines:
- Approved extracurricular activities.
- Reviewed the CARES ACT / SPARK Funds and how Lansing USD 469 is utilizing them.
- Was presented the gating criteria from KSDE / KASB. They tabled approving the gating criteria until Thursday, August 27, 2020.
To view Monday’s meeting in its entirety, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pDBPPzv3Iw
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27 MEETING RECAP
The Lansing USD 469 School Board approved the following revised gating criteria created based on the guidance from the Lansing USD 469 School Board to not include a blended (hybrid) learning model:
LANSING SCHOOL DISTRICT GATING CRITERIA
To view Thursday’s meeting in its entirety, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ogef1Rsm0
Regarding the approved gating criteria for Lansing USD 469, I will be in contact with Jamie Miller at Leavenworth County Health Department every Monday to review the current COVID19 cases in our area. For more information about COVID-19 from the Leavenworth County Health Department, please visit:
Leavenworth County Health Department Website
The positive case rate (% positive tests / all tests performed) will determine what color we are in on our gating criteria document. If we are in the red (>10%) for two consecutive Mondays, we will be moving to remote only the following Monday.
Example:
On Monday, September 7 AND Monday, September 14 our county is above 10% and is in the red. The following Monday, September 21 we would move to remote only. It would take TWO consecutive weeks of being in the green to return to on-site learning.
SYMPTOM FLOW CHART
If your child has cold-like symptoms and reports not feeling well, you should immediately isolate your child. Please review the following Symptom Flow Chart for guidance on quarantining and getting tested:
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHILD GETS SICK OR IS IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO TESTS POSITIVE?
We will be following the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) “Navigating Change: Kansas Guide to Learning and School Safety Operations” document regarding quarantining and handling positive cases within our school. Please review pages 1048 – 1050 for more information:
NAVIGATING CHANGE: KANSAS GUIDE TO LEARNING AND SCHOOL SAFETY OPERATIONS
Please realize if your child tests positive or is in close contact with a positive case, they will be required to quarantine for 14 days immediately following the positive test or exposure. At that point in time, the quarantined student will be remote-only. It is vitally important that you have a contingency plan for that scenario.
Thank you for your continued support and patience as we tackle this situation together.
Dan Wessel, Superintendent of Schools