Hybrid Learning

Safety guidelines will be followed, as outlined in the Stay Safe MN 2020-2021 Planning Guide for Schools:

• Check your child for fever and symptoms before sending them to the bus stop. 
• Students must not board the bus if they have a fever or are experiencing symptoms of COVID.
• Sutdents who become ill during the school day will need to find alternate transportation home.
• Make sure your child has their face covering.  Per the Governor’s executive order, all students over the age of 5 years and staff will be required to wear cloth face coverings on the bus and in school, (unless medically exempt).  
• Help your child understand how to keep six feet away from others at the bus stop.
• School buses are limited to 50% capacity for students and a 6 foot distance created between the driver and students.
• Students will fill the bus from the back to front and assigned seats may be implemented based on routes and capacities.
• Plans will strive to have 1 student per seat, but in certain cases, based on bus route enrollment, 50% capacity may mean students share seats.  If this is required, siblings will be encouraged to sit together.
• Students will exit the bus from front to back.

In addition:

• Staff will clean and disinfect transportation vehicles regularly, focusing on frequent cleaning of touched surfaces in the vehicle.
• Staff will keep doors and windows open when cleaning the vehicle and between trips to let the vehicles thoroughly air out.

• Look for specific information from your school about family drop off procedures and where your child should go once they're dropped off.
• For safety reasons, schools are limiting access to visitors during the pandemic. Please do not exit your vehicle or enter the school building during drop off.

• Hallway floors are marked with arrows.
• In general, students should stay to the right while walking down hallways. 
• Hallway walls have tape showing distances of six feet.  
• Students should stay six feet apart while walking in the halls.
• It's more important than ever for students to keep their hands to themselves
• There are hand sanitizing stations throughout each building and in each classroom.
• Water fountains are not available for use during the pandemic.  

In addition:

• Keep students and staff in small groups that stay together as much as possible throughout the day and from day to day. 
• Limit mixing between groups as much as possible, such as during lunch in the cafeteria, bathroom breaks, arrival and dismissal, free periods, recess, etc. 
• Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible, for example by opening windows and doors.
• If staff observe a student experiencing symptoms, the student will be moved to an isolation area for assessment and if needed parents will be notified to pick up their child.

• Each classroom has sanitizing supplies for use throughout the day.
• Classrooms are set up so students have space between each other to work.

• Students will have an opportunity to wash or use hand sanitizer before lunch.
• Students wear their face masks while getting their food.
• Students will be served their lunch on a tray, including fruits and vegetables.  
• We're not using keypads during the pandemic. Child Nutrition staff will check in students. 
• Cafeteria tables are marked to allow for 50% capacity per MN Department of Health Guidelines.
• Students can take off their mask once seated and ready to begin eating.
• Students will put their mask back on when they get up and walk around the cafeteria.

In addition:

Handwashing/sanitizing before and after playing on structures and social distancing will be practiced.

In Addition:

For playgrounds, in general and per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cleaning efforts focus on plastic or metal high-touch surfaces where hands frequently make direct contact like grab bars and railings between groups of children.   

Do districts notify people when a student or a staff member reports a positive COVID-19 test result?
Schools must report all confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the MN Department of Health (MDH) or their local public health agency.

• MDH or the local public health agency conduct a case investigation and identify anyone who potentially has been exposed to the confirmed case.
• MDH or the local public health agency notifies those who have been exposed and provides them with information about how to protect themselves, their families and their communities.
• Schools are asked to assist in the notification process of all close contacts.
• Schools make sure they're following HIPAA/FERPA data privacy laws.

See What To Do When Notified of a Lab-Confirmed Case of COVID-19 in a School or Child Care Setting (PDF) for more information about the contact tracing process in schools.

Does a school or classroom have to shut down if a student or staff member has symptoms or tests positive?
The first step in the process of responding to a COVID-19 case in a school is to conduct contact tracing to identify close contacts of anyone with a confirmed case who attended school while infectious.

• Close contact is when someone is within 6 feet of the ill person for at least 15 minutes.
• All close contacts of a confirmed case will be notified of their exposure and asked to stay at home for 14 days since their last exposure to the confirmed case.
• The decision to close a classroom or school is made on a case-by-case basis and depends on:
  • The length of time the ill person spent in the space
  • Whether 6 feet of distancing was maintained consistently
  • The extent of the ill person's activities while infectious in the school facility
  • The extent to which all close contacts can be identified.

Schools must work collaboratively with local and state health officials to identify close contacts of a case and evaluate the extent of the exposure to determine if a full classroom or school closure is warranted.

If there is an exposure at the school, would the school remain open?
If the exposure is contained to a specific classroom or area of the building and only involves a small number of people, the entire school or program may not need to shut down. However, those who were exposed to the positive case would need to stay home and should self-quarantine. 

This decision tool applies to children, students, or staff members who are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.  It comes from the MN Department of Health.

Symptoms consistent with COVID-19 fall into two groups:

• More common symptoms are one or more of these: fever of 100.4℉ or higher, new onset and/or worsening cough, difficulty breathing, and new loss of taste or smell.
• Less common symptoms are two or more of these: sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, muscle pain, excessive fatigue, new onset of severe headache, and new onset of nasal congestion or runny nose

View the MN DOH Decision Tool