North Babylon School District Releases Potential Reopening Plan

NORTH BABYLON, NY — The North Babylon school district recently released a potential plan for reopening schools in the fall. In July, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York schools can reopen only if coronavirus infection rates fall below strict benchmarks to be set early this month.

The "formula" that Cuomo spelled out allows school openings in regions that are in Phase Four and have an infection rate under 5 percent. An "emergency" stop to openings will take place if infections rise above 9 percent, he said. He also officially stated last week that all schools in the state are currently allowed to reopen in the fall.

However before opening, each individual school district must release their own plan for reopening by Friday. As of Monday, the governor stated that over 100 school districts have not submitted plans to reopen in the fall and will not be allowed to if they fail to submit them.

North Babylon school officials presented a possible plan, posted on the school district website, to give residents insight into what schools might look like during the pandemic. Under the potential plan, the district has created three types of school schedules — in-person, hybrid, and remote — for the 2020-2021 school year that follow the guidance and recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control, state Department of Health and state Education Department.

The scheduled plan to be used at the beginning of the 2020 school year states that students in grades K-6 will attend school five days a week in smaller sized classes with all available spaces within a school building used for instructional purposes. Under this potential plan, support staff, including AIS providers and reading teachers, will be used to teach additional classes that were created in order to maintain maximum classroom capacity to ensure proper social distancing.

The schools will provide special areas have teacher rotating between classrooms and outdoor spaces, when possible, will be used to maximize social distancing and building capacity. Under this sample plan, students in grades 7 through 12 will have a hybrid schedule with a combination of in-person instruction and remote instruction on the days not in school. Under this potential plan, students will be split into two groups. The first week, students in group A will attend in-person classes Monday through Wednesday and online classes Thursday and Friday while students in group B will attend online classes Monday through Wednesday and in-person classes Thursday and Friday. The following week, students in group B will attend online classes Monday and Tuesday and in-person classes Wednesday through Friday while students in group A will attend in-person classes Monday and Tuesday and online classes Wednesday through Friday.

Photo: North Babylon school district plan

The presentation created by the North Babylon school district includes another sample plan which would have all students in grades K through 12 attending classes using the same hybrid schedule above. A third sample provided would have students in grades K through 5, grade 6 and grade 9 following a full-time schedule, but have students in grades 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 following the hybrid schedule.

Under the potential plan, all employees, adult visitors and students will be required to wear a face covering or mask while in a school facility. Mask breaks for students will be provided throughout the day when social distancing can be maintained. In addition, there will be specific areas outside of each building where students and staff, when maintaining social distance, can remove their masks. The school district will provide three cloth masks to each employee as needed, which will be washable and reusable. Students will be expected to provide their own masks, but disposable masks will be available for students if needed in the nurse's office, the main office and on each bus. All staff and students are expected to enter the building wearing a mask. If a student is without a mask, one will be secured for them at the appropriate assigned areas.

Before entering any and all buildings, staff must complete a medical screening questionnaire, via the electronic submission form. Staff will be required to monitor their own temperatures before arriving to work and throughout the day. All staff must also sign in and out of each building with the security desk each time they enter and exit the building to monitor attendance in the building.

Staff with symptoms of illness will be sent to the health office where a registered nurse will be available to assess those with chronic conditions, such as asthma, allergies or chronic
gastrointestinal conditions, that may present the same symptoms as COVID-19, but are neither
contagious nor pose a public health threat. Proper PPE will be required anytime a registered
nurse may be in contact with a potential COVID-19 case.

For students, parents and/or guardians are encouraged to monitor temperatures over 99.9 degrees and any other coronavirus symptoms prior to sending their child or children on the bus. Students will also be screened at arrival for temperatures using contactless thermometers and will be signed in and accounted for as without fever or symptoms and able to attend school through attendance roll.

Students suspected of having COVID-19 will be isolated in a room or area separate from others while waiting for a parent or guardian to come pick them up, with a supervising adult present using appropriate PPE. Multiple students suspected of COVID-19 may be in this isolation room if they can be separated by at least six feet. If they cannot be isolated in a separate room from others, face masks will be provided to the student if the ill person can tolerate wearing it, to prevent the possible transmission of the virus to others while waiting for transportation home.

In the event that a student or staff is suspected of having the coronavirus, the school will take the following measures:

• Closing off areas used by a sick person and not using these areas until after cleaning and disinfection has occurred
• Opening outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the area
• Waiting at least 24 hours before cleaning and disinfection. If waiting 24 hours is not feasible, wait as long as possible
• Cleaning and disinfecting all areas used by the person suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19, such as offices, classrooms, bathrooms, lockers, and common areas
• Once the area has been appropriately cleaned and disinfected, it will be reopened for use
• Individuals without close or proximate contact with the person suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 can return to the area and resume school activities immediately after cleaning and disinfection

For a student to return to school after an illness, the following protocols will be followed:

• Documentation from a health care provider following evaluation
• Negative COVID-19 diagnostic test result
• Symptom resolution, or if COVID-19 positive, release from isolation

For a teacher or staff to return to work after an illness, the following protocols will be followed:

• If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether the employee is symptomatic or asymptomatic, the employee may return to work upon completing at least 10 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms or 10 days of isolation after the first positive test if they remain asymptomatic
• If an employee has had close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time AND is experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms, the employee may return to work upon completing at least 10 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms
• If an employee has had close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time AND is not experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms, the employee may return to work upon completing 14 days of self-quarantine.
• If an employee is symptomatic upon arrival at work or becomes sick with COVID-19 symptoms while at the workplace, absent close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19, the employee must be separated and sent home immediately and may return to work upon completing at least 10 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms or upon receipt of a negative COVID-19 test result.

Almost Home, the agency that provides students of the District before and after care, will be operating at a modified location. The morning program shall be permitted to remain in the same format as before - housing children at each of their own individual school buildings before the start of the school day. The after care should also take place in the student’s home school, not a combined district-wide location in order to eliminate contamination risk between buildings. In addition, every effort should be made by the Almost Home program to have students grouped by their classroom cohort or household family members.

Click here to read the full plan on the North Babylon school district website.