July 26, 2021 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Special Meeting
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1. Call to Order
Rationale:
Information concerning the Open Meeting Law, Chapter 84, Article 14 of Nebraska State Statutes, is posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public and attached to the online agenda.
Mrs. Kari Loseke, Board President, will call the Board of Education Special meeting to order.
Attachments:
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2. Roll Call
Rationale:
The Board Secretary will conduct roll call attendance.
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3. Items for Discussion
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3.1. School Reopening Plan (2021-22)
Rationale:
We have received 216 survey responses provided by students, parents, teachers/staff, and community patrons regarding the 2021-22 School Reopening Plan. There have been 14 new surveys since my last report to you. 87.6% of respondents support the plan as written.
 Here is a breakdown of all who responded:
 Summary of Respondents Not In Support of the Plan
There are 27 total respondents who are not in favor of the plan. 23 are parents, one is a community member, two are middle school teachers and one is a teacher from Arbor Park. Nine of the respondents don't support the plan because masking is optional. Several parents don't support the plan due to the language about vaccinated versus unvaccinated students and staff. They want us to treat both groups the same when exposed to COVID.
The two middle school teacher's main complaints about the plan is Cohort Grouping students for classes and lunch. I will recommend no Cohorting of groups in light of the new Nebraska Health Department Quarantine requirements.
The themes that emerged from all comments shared by both those in favor of the plan and those not were as follows.
*Don't Require Masks (34 responses) 16.4%
*Require Masks (12 responses) 5.8%
*Continue Zoom Learning for Quarantine Students (6 responses) 3%
*No Social Distancing (5 responses) 2.5%
*No Cohort Grouping (3 responses) 1.5%
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Recommendations
I have attached the First Draft School Reopening Plan I shared with you at the Board Meeting on July 12. In a meeting today, I received the following guidance from Three Rivers Health Department how they plan to proceed if there are multiple COVID cases in the same class, program, or activity at school. Three Rivers Health still has jurisdiction to quarantine/isolate students, staff, and visitors. I am planning to include this in the Reopening Plan, so parents and staff understand the regulations that our out of our control if COVID positive cases emerge.
Here is the Three Rivers Health Department Guidance.
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Three River Health Department Guidance For Schools (Effective July 21, 2021)
Guidance: Three Rivers Public Health Department (3RPHD) continues to recommend that schools follow CDC guidance as much as possible, including masking and social distancing for unvaccinated individuals. We also recognize the need for balance in protecting children and staff and ensuring educational activities can continue. Below is the preliminary outline for the public health recommendations for exposures in school. These recommendations maybe modified based on the situation. For school aged individuals who have had close contact with a person(s) who has symptoms or during the 48 hours prior to the person developing one or more symptoms or testing positive for COVID-19: · If ONE (1) confirmed case has been identified in a classroom, contacts within the classroom will be notified of close contact (see attached letter) and asked to self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days following the last exposure. · If TWO (2) confirmed cases have been identified within a classroom, contacts within the classroom will be notified of the close contact (see attached letter), and all contacts will be asked to self-monitor. Unvaccinated contacts or those individuals who were not wearing a mask at time of exposure will be asked to wear masks while in public, and physically distance if possible, for 14 days following the last exposure. · If MORE THAN TWO confirmed or suspected cases are identified in a classroom, the school should contact 3RPHD. Students and staff will be notified of the close contact and unvaccinated and/or unmasked contacts will be asked to self-monitor at home for 14 days following the last exposure. Vaccinated contacts, those individuals whom have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 90 days, or those that were masked during the exposure should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days and may remain in the classroom. · If unvaccinated close contacts in a potential outbreak situation decline home monitoring, the 3RPHD will work with DHHS on next steps. If symptoms develop within the 14-day self-monitoring, the individual will need to isolate at home until: · At least ten (10) days* have passed since onset of symptoms AND · Symptoms have improved AND · The isolated individual has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication (such as Tylenol, acetaminophen, ibuprofen). *For patients with severe illness or are severely immunocompromised, this length of time may need to be extended. Please consult your local health department for further guidance on these situations. For individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 and do NOT have symptoms, isolation may be discontinued IF: · At least ten (10) days have passed since the date of their 1st positive test AND · Have had no symptom development AND · For 3 days following discontinuation of isolation, these people must continue to limit contact and when possible wear a face covering. The symptoms of COVID-19 include: · sudden onset of cough, · sudden onset of shortness of breath, · sudden loss of taste or smell; · a fever of 100.4 or above, · chills, · muscle aches, · headache, · sore throat, · nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, fatigue ------------------------------------------------ Here are recommendations I will be making to you based on Feedback I received from students, parents, teachers, staff, and community members. Tomorrow, I will send you a cleaned up version with the following changes. Again, the First Draft Reopening Plan is attached.
Changes on Page #7
**Change Exclusion From School to Read as Follows: Guidance from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services & Three Rivers Health Department: For school aged individuals who have had close contact with a person(s) whom has developed or during the 48 hours prior to the person developing one or more of the following symptoms: sudden onset of cough, sudden onset of shortness of breath or sudden loss of taste or smell; or whom has developed or during the 48 hours prior to the person developing two or more of the following symptoms: a fever of 100.4 or above, chills, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea or fatigue or with a person whom has tested positive for COVID-19 whichever event occurs earlier, may meet the following conditions in lieu of quarantine: • Self-monitor daily for fever or other symptom (listed above) development for 14 days and have NO symptom development. If symptom development occurs within the 14 day self-monitoring need to follow isolation guidance. Isolation shall continue until: • At least ten (10) days* have passed since onset of symptoms AND • Symptoms have improved AND • The isolated individual has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication *For patients with severe illness or are severely immunocompromised, this length of time may need to be extended. Please consult your health care provider or local health department for further guidance on these situations. For individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 and do NOT have symptoms may discontinue isolation under the following conditions: • At least ten (10) days have passed since the date of their 1st positive test AND • Have had no symptom development AND • For 3 days following discontinuation of isolation, these people must continue to limit contact and when possible wear a face covering. Changes On Page #7 **Add: 'Please contact your Building Administrator, Counselor or Special Education Case Manager with specific questions' Changes on Page #9 **Delete the paragraph that says the following: **Under Title 172 of the Nebraska Administrative Code.........If your child has not received the COVID-19, there is nothing you need to do. **Keep the rest....Everyone 12 years old and up is eligible. Changes on Page #10 **Delete this paragraph - **Vaccination status is based on a self-identified system....... Changes on Page #11 - There will be no Cohorted Groups **Delete mark areas for classroom Cohorts. **Delete under Student Movement - Stagger class periods by cohorts for movement between classrooms if students must move between classrooms to limit the number of students in the hallway when changing classrooms. **Delete - under Lunch - Assigned to lunch in cohort groups whenever possible. **Take the period out of Sche.duled recess Changes on Page #18 **Change Quarantine & Exclusions to the following: Guidance: For school aged individuals who have had close contact with a person(s) whom has developed or during the 48 hours prior to the person developing one or more of the following symptoms: sudden onset of cough, sudden onset of shortness of breath or sudden loss of taste or smell; or whom has developed or during the 48 hours prior to the person developing two or more of the following symptoms: a fever of 100.4 or above, chills, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea or fatigue or with a person whom has tested positive for COVID-19 whichever event occurs earlier, may meet the following conditions in lieu of quarantine: • Self-monitor daily for fever or other symptom (listed above) development for 14 days and have NO symptom development. If symptom development occurs within the 14 day self-monitoring need to follow isolation guidance. Isolation shall continue until: • At least ten (10) days* have passed since onset of symptoms AND • Symptoms have improved AND • The isolated individual has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication *For patients with severe illness or are severely immunocompromised, this length of time may need to be extended. Please consult your health care provider or local health department for further guidance on these situations. For individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 and do NOT have symptoms may discontinue isolation under the following conditions: • At least ten (10) days have passed since the date of their 1st positive test AND • Have had no symptom development AND • For 3 days following discontinuation of isolation, these people must continue to limit contact and when possible wear a face covering. Keep: The Remote Learning Program (paragraph) Changes on Pages 10-13 Various prevention strategies on pgs. 10-13 will be 'implemented by building when applicable' ------- Finally, recommendations: 1. Combine the 'Exclusion from School' on p. 7 and the 'Infection Response' from p. 18 put together with a visual showing a diagram of the steps a parent should take to include the self-screening questions from p.7 and the Google doc form link which I will have to ask how to find or access. Is it possible to get access to that form by building? ...or maybe a notification that there is a submission to the building admin? 2. Delete Title 173 of the Nebraska Administrative code and that schools are allowed to collect immunization records but wonder if as an administrative team we could brainstorm other examples of when that might be appropriate outside the initial immunization record. 4. Break the Volunteers and Visitors information into three sections on p 9? It feels like A. vaccination information from Three Rivers needs to be separate from the B. Volunteers and Visitors section. C. Mail in Immunization record information.
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3.2. School Board Self-Evaluation
Rationale:
Please select here and complete a confidential School Board Self-Assessment
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3.3. School Board Events Calendar
Rationale:
Please select here to view a School Board Calendar of Events. In the Calendar of Events, I am proposing we have a School Board Retreat from 5-6 pm on Thursday, August 26 to establish goals for this year. The School Board will already be meeting at 6:00 pm to discuss and approve final 2020-21 Claims and to discuss approval of a Budget that will be published prior to the Public Budget and Tax Request Hearing. In the future, the School Board Retreat would be held in June.
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3.4. Blair Community Schools Board of Education/Superintendent Goals for 2021-22
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4. Closed Session
Rationale:
The Board of Education is authorized by state statute to hold closed sessions. Closed sessions may be held when clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual. Reasons that meet this standard include but are not limited to: (a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate matters, pending litigation, or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body; (b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices; (c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; (d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if such person has not requested a public meeting; and (e) legal advice.
The Board will enter into Closed Session for the protection of public interest on the discussion of a personnel matter to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person(s) and if such person(s) has not requested a public meeting. |
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4.1. Items From Closed Session
Rationale:
Possible acceptance of certified employee, Kirk Schjodt (9-12 Vocal Music Instructor, request for resignation.
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5. Adjournment
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