The Perry County School District No. 32 Board of Education approved several changes to its “Stay the Course” plan in a special meeting on Sept. 10 in the Old Senior High gym. The board was prepared to amend its plan at the regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 8.
However, the Perry County Health Board made them aware of a special “emergency” meeting on Thursday, so the school board tabled the discussion until the Health Board decided how to move forward with its COVID-19 protocols.
The Health Board information was released on Friday morning and the board approved the recommendations made by the Perry County Health Department and information was sent out district-wide on Sunday.
The school board placed specific emphasis on three bullet points that were addressed in the Health Department letter and in its quarantine procedures.
As of Wednesday’s meeting, it was noted that there were 535 students in quarantine in the entire district.
“My stance remains the same,” School Board President Jamie Robinson said. “I still want to keep as many students as we can in school five days per week. Doing remote learning or learning from home is not the best way.”
Effective Monday, Sept. 13, all children that were currently quarantined as a close contact were able to return to school and in-person learning, but they are required to wear a mask at all times at school until their quarantine period expires. Parents and guardians have the choice to keep their quarantined student home if they do not want them to wear a mask. Failure to comply with these rules will remove this option and the child will be sent home for the remainder of their quarantine period.
Every other student may attend school with or without a mask, according to their personal choice.
As soon as possible, vaccinated students will no longer be required to wear a mask at any time at school, but can still wear a mask if they choose.
Under the new guidance, unvaccinated students who are identified as close contacts to a positive individual can “quarantine at school” but must still wear a mask when they can’t social distance more than three feet. During the school day, when the school can identify opportunities for these students to remove the masks, the building administration will let the student and the appropriate staff know. Parents and guardians have the choice to keep quarantined students home if they do not want them to wear a mask.
As part of the new guidance, students that have had COVID-19 in the last 90 days will be able to follow the same protocols as the vaccinated students. Although the district asks that parents provide proof that they have recovered from COVID-19, and this may be in the form of a letter from their physician or from the health department.
