May 17th, 2021
Updates to COVID Procedures-
The most recent comprehensive school guidance for managing COVID-19 in the school setting was released in April and required stakeholder feedback. Since that time, ACS has taken the following steps:
- Immediately reviewed the guidance,
- Communicated with the LCDOH and our school physician,
- Conversed with regional schools,
- Expanded regular dialogue with the LCDOH and regional schools,
- Processed the April guidance as a COVID Opening Team,
- Gathered feedback from staff, students, parents, and the community,
- Assessed both the feedback and guidance and determined the recommendations,
- Reviewed and shared the recommendations with the entire COVID Opening Team (parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and nurses), the Leadership Team, and the Board of Education, and
- Sought additional feedback from the LCDOH and our school physician regarding our proposed changes.
Districts were required to gather stakeholder feedback prior to making changes to plans as a result of the April guidance issued by the NYSDOH. As you know, we recently sent a stakeholder survey. We received 385 survey responses from students (4-12), parents, and school employees. The survey was sent to more than 3,000 people. Those with the strongest feelings, good or bad, tend to respond to surveys. It is hard to interpret what the silent majority may think.
We are excited to share with you some additional, less restrictive, measures we will be able to take prior to the end of the school year. Our initial review suggested that we can take the following steps, in good faith, as a result of the new guidance and required stakeholder feedback (Note: we previously reinforced masking requirements, made adjustments to our HVAC systems, and modified dining procedures) -
Remove safety shields as of 5/21 from the classrooms. These are no longer a preferred measure in the updated guidance from both the NYSDOH and the CDC. Our survey revealed that the shields are viewed as one of the least impactful safety measures at school. This is a terrific example of how information evolved. Barriers were a recommended best practice in the COVID guidance from last July. Due to the current capacities in grades K-6, students will continue to eat lunch with their teachers in the classrooms for the remainder of the year. If a family or a child still finds comfort in having a safety shield on the desk, then the shield may stay in place through the end of the year. The shields will remain, for the time being, in the MS/HS lunch space.
Return MS and HS students in grades 7-12 to instruction 5 days per week beginning on 5/26. This will allow for students to attend on 4 additional Wednesdays, approximately 10% of the year remaining.
Remove restrictions on directional traffic in stairwells and hallways.
Continue to expand spaces for dining 7-12. This will require additional spaces and supervisors of those spaces.
Continue to communicate and enforce masking requirements expected from the established NYSDOH guidance. There is a lack of agreement regarding masks between the CDC and NYSDOH guidance. This is expected to change on Wednesday, May 19th, when NY will adopt the CDC’s new guidelines for vaccinated individuals. Getting 100% clarity on requirements is a constant challenge. As of this writing, masks are required in schools by both the NYSDOH and CDC guidance, this includes vaccinated individuals. Masks have been the expectation for Avon Schools all year. This will continue.
Lastly, many respondents noted feeling that the screening and attestations forms are having little impact. From the beginning of the year, students were expected to screen periodically while staff members were expected to screen daily. We will adjust our expectations in the following ways: 1) the next periodic student attestation will be the last one for the year, and 2) instead of completing the form daily, staff measures will attest to completing the expected screening once a week. The attestation will affirm that the staff member will take the measures daily.
Next September: A fair number of survey respondents asked questions or made suggestions for next September. We are hoping that the movement toward fewer restrictions will continue, but the District also recognizes that these remain uncertain times. As we have done all year, ACS will continue to work with any new guidance to review what is expected of us, we will seek feedback and collaborate to in order to create our processes and procedures, and we will do what we can to keep students and their learning at the center of what we can do safely within the guidelines. We wish we could provide more clarity at this time, but unfortunately that is simply not something we can do right now.
Thank you for your continued support of Avon schools and our efforts to meet the needs of the children we serve. Please contact your Building Principals with additional questions or concerns.
Thank you.