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County school district gives guidance for short-term closure

Warren County School District has issued guidance related to a possible short-term closure due to COVID-19.

The district is not saying that a closure is imminent, but it wants parents, students, and others to know what would happen in the event of a closure.

The guidance issued Tuesday relates to a theoretical closure at the middle and/or secondary level.

“In the event that a school or the entire Warren County School District is required to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the following procedures will be followed,” according to the release posted Tuesday afternoon by Superintendent Amy Stewart.

Middle and high school students have been trained to use, and most of them have used, the Microsoft TEAMS platform.

In the event of a closure, “all courses in grades six through 12 will be using Microsoft TEAMS as the virtual platform for online learning,” Stewart said.

That does not include Warren County Career Center programming. “The WCCC will be reaching out to WCCC students to explain whether they will or will not be coming into the WCCC for instruction” in the event of a closure in the district.

If a school is closed, “the students will follow their normal schedule, period-by-period, Monday through Friday,” she said. “Live lessons will take place daily and student attendance will be recorded by the teachers.”

Teachers who are absent will post notices through Microsoft TEAMS.

The district has been checking again on the technology needs and capabilities of district families. Parents or guardians should reach out to their child’s school if they have technology needs.

Special education teachers, case managers, school counselors, and others, are prepared to provide individualized attention where it is needed.

Students who are already attending through the district’s Virtual Academy will not be impacted by a school closure.

On Tuesday, there were 44 positive cases of COVID-19 related to the district and 272 students denied entry (quarantined) due to close contact, according to Stewart.

The number of cases is up, but the quarantines are down. The district has to conduct contact tracing for every positive case. Students who are denied entry may return if they have a test within two to five days of exposure and the results come back negative.

Not all students who are close contacts are quarantined. The vaccination status of the student who is the contact and the presence of masks plays a role in that determination.

At a previous school board meeting, Stewart said there were a number of situations – beyond an overwhelming number of positive cases – that could result in closure of a school or the district.

If too many teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, or other critical workers are unavailable to work, a school could have to close. The same is true for bus drivers.

And, if the district is unable to keep up with contact tracing, that could also result in a closure.

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