Who will replace a nurse who is quarantined for 14 days? If a school nurse becomes symptomatic or tests positive for COVID-19, Mon County Schools will identify a replacement until the infected nurse can come out of quarantine based on the CDC criteria.
student population in a classroom should not present a greater risk than general exposure in a public setting. Substitutes teach in multiple schools. Is their risk of exposure greater? Each school principal was tasked by Mon County Schools with identifying substitutes who would be willing to work at their school only during the upcoming year. There will be much less travel between schools by substitutes than in a normal academic year. Will Monongalia County Schools teachers who do not participate in the remote learning instructional process lose their jobs? In order to fulfill their contracts, teachers must report to work 200 days each year. In light of COVID and the potential for remote learning environments, reporting for work might be to the school building or might be teaching from home. Teachers who are unwilling to do what’s required would not be fulfilling their contractual obligations. Governor Jim Justice said accommodations would be made for teachers who have health conditions that might complicate COVID-19 and are therefore at increased risk teaching in-person. Will a teacher who needs extended leave due to COVID be paid? The CARES Act provides for federal funding that will cover an extended leave period due to a COVID-19 infection or the need to care for a dependent who tests positive for COVID-19. Those individuals will work directly with the leadership of their schools to qualify for extended leave. Student Life What support will students who test positive receive for continuing their studies? The school system is preparing for the
possibility of fully remote instruction. Therefore, any student who tests positive and must quarantine for 14 days should be able to keep up with classwork, uninterrupted, via Chromebook. What about textbooks, lockers, and lunch? Each school is working to secure electronic textbooks for students. Students will not use lockers in the near-term. Instead, the
BOE suggests that students carry their Chromebook in its case and a small bag for personal belongings. Breakfast and lunch will be served in a brown-bag format. The delivery mechanism for meals is yet to be decided.
How Can the
Community Support Our Schools?
• Wear your mask • Wash your hands • Don’t touch your face
• Practice social distancing • Stay home if you're sick
What about sports and
extracurriculars for the upcoming year? Sports and other extracurricular activities will go on with modified schedules and protocols handed down by the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission. Practice and play will also be governed by the color-coded map maintained by the state Department of Education. Red and orange counties won't be able to travel for games, and red counties must stop practicing. School Nurses If a student visits the nurse and later tests positive for COVID, does the nurse then get tested and quarantined? It is possible for medical professionals to care for COVID-positive patients without becoming infected by the virus. Mon County Schools nurses are trained in the proper protocol and will have the necessary PPE on hand to handle potential COVID-positive cases in the schools. Seeing a student who tests positive does not necessarily mean that a nurse would have to quarantine unless that nurse was in close contact with the student as defined by the CDC.
Following these directives directly helps students get back into classrooms and onto sports fields.
Where to Find the Latest Information Monongalia Monongalia County Health Department monchd.org West Virginia Department of Education wvde.us West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resource s dhhr.wv.gov County Schools boe.mono.k12.wv.us U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cdc.gov
28 MORGANTOWN • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020
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