COVID-19 Family Info

October 5 update: Our goal for this year is to keep our students in school with face to face instruction. We have been very fortunate! As I have told you over and over this year will be a year of change and flexibility. Guidance from the state will continue to change and we will adjust as needed. Last week I sent home the latest guidance on loosening quarantine restrictions (see buttons below). After receiving this information, I consulted with Blackhawk County Health, our Return to Learn Team and the School Board. The overwhelming response was to follow this new guidance. In choosing to follow this guidance we will now need to have all K-8 students wear masks at school. Both the Iowa Department of Health and Blackhawk County Health have made it clear that face coverings mean masks. Face shields or gators will no longer be acceptable to eliminate the quarantine requirements. If a student or teacher has a condition that makes it necessary to wear a gator or shield please let me know. This new requirement will go into effect on Oct. 12. - Lynette Hackett, Principal

IDPH Quarantine Recommendations

When to Quarantine Graphic

September 28 update: The Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Public Health jointly released guidance for schools and local public health agencies regarding public reporting of COVID-19 cases, instituting limitations in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). 

The new guidance states:
●      Schools that have no cases can report zero cases (we will use the number "0").
●      Schools with 5 or fewer cases should not provide a specific count but can confirm there are cases within the school population (we will report by saying we have less than 6 cases).
●      Schools with counts of 6 or more cases can release specific case counts (we will use the actual number of cases)
●      No other demographic identifiers should be included in the school-level release

We are committed to safety and transparency while maintaining student privacy. Beginning immediately, we will report the number of active positive cases in the Thursday principal letter. We will not report grade level or any other demographic information. We will not send a letter home to notify families of each case. Parents will be notified by the Department of Health if their child has been affected by a school exposure.

September 2 update: See the new flyer from the State of IA, IA Dept. of Education, and the IA Dept of Public Health for information on procedures regarding symptoms, testing, and identifying close contacts.

Evaluating Sick Students and Staff

The following is a summary of the procedures we are following to ensure the safest possible environment for students and staff. We will continue to communicate as new information becomes available. As you know this is a very fluid situation and guidance continues to come out daily. 

Face coverings (updated 10/5/20)
All K-8 students are required to wear masks at school. Both the Iowa Department of Health and Blackhawk County Health have made it clear that face coverings mean masks. Face shields or gators will no longer be acceptable to eliminate the quarantine requirements. If a student or teacher has a condition that makes it necessary to wear a gator or shield please let me know. This new requirement will go into effect on Oct. 12.

Safety procedures for the school day

• Parents will be asked to use the Mayo Self Checking System to decide whether their children are healthy enough to come to school. 
• Students will be dropped off as normal but will be directed to go inside to their classrooms instead of socializing on the playground. Teachers will take each child’s temperature upon arrival to the classroom. If a child has a fever of 100.3 or greater, the student will be sent home.
• Classrooms are arranged for social distancing.
• Lunch will look a little different with some classrooms choosing to eat outside on nice days and smaller groups with social distancing in the lunchroom on other days.
• During lunch breaks classrooms and hallways will be disinfected using a disinfectant mister that is EPA approved for COVID-19. This process has been used in hospitals, schools and businesses across the country. Students will use a disinfectant wipe on their desks and chairs before moving to another classroom throughout the day.
• Teachers will be discussing safety procedures with students such as not touching others faces or hands, washing hands regularly, covering their coughs and using hand sanitizer before and after lunch and recess. Many new procedures will be taught to enhance social distancing in the hallways, at lockers, and on the playground.
• There will be limited access to our building and parents will be asked not to visit during the school day. The CDC has advised that limiting the amount of people entering the building is a great way to avoid the risk of infection.

Air Quality
We continue to monitor mitigation strategies and work closely with public health officials to make sure our school is providing the safest environment for all students. This summer Paul Schafer and I met with Matt Hein, school parent and Manager of Energy Services with Cedar Falls Utilities. We  walked through the ASHRAE guidance for air quality within our school. Our HVAC system will assist with the fight against COVID in our school environment. The Preschool already has a UV system that cleans the air and rids it of infectious particles and our main building will also have filters in place to do the same. This means that should infectious droplets become airborne they will be filtered and eliminated. We will be working closely with Matt to ensure air quality throughout the building.

Virtual Learning
Virtual learning is available. See the information on our hybrid learning model below and contact the office with your questions. Read our Expectations for Virtual Learners.

School Closure due to a Student or Staff Member Testing Positive 
Guidance from the Blackhawk County Health and the State Department of Health states that contact tracing will be used to identify who would need to quarantine and for how long. The guidance states that school closures would only be considered if there is a "greater than 20% positivity in a county on average over the past 14 days with healthcare resource capacity concerns." So if we should have a student test positive that does not mean St. Patrick would close the whole school.

Cedar Falls Public Library
The Cedar Falls Public Library has asked that I share the following information: "When school starts, the public library will still be in phase three, which means we will be open to the public by appointment only and have reduced hours. The next phase of our plan (whenever we implement it) will still limit our hours and the number of people in the building. With these restrictions our building will probably not be available as an after school destination for the foreseeable future."

Lynette Hackett
Principal

Read Mrs. Hackett's letter with additional details on the plan .
View/print PDF of this flyer.