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Updated JCDHE guidance • BV Today • National Merit
Updated guidance from JCDHE
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) has released the following updated public health guidance for K-12 schools. The guidelines are intended to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in the school setting. Below is a summary of updates from JCDHE.
Quarantine guidance for close contacts: Close contacts who choose to test, should now have a PCR test conducted on day 6 or later. If the PCR test is negative and the person is symptom-free, they may still return to activities on day 8 after exposure. Those not testing and who remain symptom-free may return to activities on day 11 after exposure. If an individual develops symptoms anytime during the 14 days following exposure, they no longer meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for early return.
Vaccinations and quarantines: Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, individuals who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 may be exempt from quarantine IF they meet ALL of the following criteria:
Asymptomatic following their exposure,
At least 2 weeks following their second dose, and;
Within 6 months of their vaccination.
Middle school/high school only! Adapted airplane model: When secondary students are sitting within 3 feet of one another, JCDHE will be applying an adapted airplane model for secondary students. In this model, any secondary students sitting immediately next to and in front of an infected individual will receive a moderate-risk letter.
Masking: The CDC and JCDHE continue to recommend that all staff and students in schools wear masks/face coverings to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Individuals who are routinely needing to be reminded to keep their mask over their nose and/or mouth would be considered “poor-maskers” for the purposes of contact tracing. In the airplane model, JCDHE recommends exclusion for “poor maskers” sitting within 6 feet of an infected individual. Alternatively, if a “poor masker” is infected, those sitting within 6 feet would be recommended for exclusion.
Middle school/high school only! Low-risk letters: With the implementation of the adapted airplane model for secondary students, secondary families will no longer receive low-risk letters. Please note low-risk letters will continue to be used at the elementary level.
These safety measures, along with mitigation strategies including social distancing when possible, face masks, hand washing and at-school temperature checks will continue to help us create a safe learning and working environment for all. More information about COVID-19 and Blue Valley Schools is available on the district website.
Spring issue of Blue Valley Today
Check out the spring issue of Blue Valley Today, featuring stories like:
- Horizon Award Winners
- Blue Valley Graduate Gives Back
- Granting Wishes
- And more!
49 Blue Valley students named National Merit finalists
Forty-nine Blue Valley seniors have been named National Merit finalists. These seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered in the spring.
Students were named finalists after taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Finalists from Blue Valley are:
Blue Valley High: Arish Ali, Phoenix Johnson, Sofia Loveland, Emma McClure, Bryce Merry, Nikhil Reddy, Carson Schmidt and Arul Sethi
Blue Valley North: Charles Gambill, Brian Garretson, Yujin Hahn, Damon Henderson, Lauren Herrington, Richard Koulen, Alec Liu, Grant Mao, Anna McCartan, Lucas Seeley and Braden Webb
Blue Valley Northwest: Ria Agarwal, Genevieve E. Ansay, Marguerite E. Colyer, Rhea A. Desai, Aaron P. Du, Declan L. Franey, Alex L. Gibson, Sneha Mary Jacob, Naomi L. James, Yuwen H. Li, Ryan T. Mulrenan, Nikhitha S. Muthineni, Raabia I. Qureshi, Mikayla B. Rakolta, Shaurir A. Ramanujan, Ankith R. Sheshappa, Joseph J. Valenti and Phillip L. Zhuang
Blue Valley Southwest: Owen Li, Olivia Richey and Aatif Syed
Blue Valley West: Rayyan Abid, Alan M. Abraham, Tawfique Ali, Addison A. Barnes, Nicole M. Harrison, Sergej L. Kavs, Abihith Kothapalli, Aishani Saxena and Dylan YanFood and nutrition update
Blue Valley Food and Nutrition Services is excited to welcome middle and high school students back to the cafeteria with the recent transition to full-time in-person learning. As a reminder, all families participating in the district’s meal service program must set up an account with the district’s point of sale software, TITAN School Solutions, to pay meal fees.
TITAN Family Portal features include:
Add payment to your child’s account (min. of $30)
Save your payment information
Set up recurring meal payments based on balance trigger or calendar schedule
View meal account transaction history for each meal account
Set low balance reminders to your preference (Note: only ONE reminder will be sent from Titan Family Portal when meal account drops below preset reminder level. Low balance notification will reset after account resets to your designated threshold)
Transfer money between meal accounts in Titan Family Portal (Families cannot link meal accounts together to share one balance, but the Titan Family Portal allows parents to quickly transfer funds from one account to another)
Apply for Free & Reduced meal program
Download the Titan Family Connect app on your phone for ease of use.
Register today!
All families participating in the district’s meal service program must set up an account in TITAN Family Portal to access these services and pay meal fees. To register, go to family.titank12.com and click Sign Up Today! to get started or download the TITAN Family Connect app (available in the Apple Store and Google Play) to register on your mobile device. Please refer to the FAQs for step-by-step guidance on how to set up an account. For more information, visit the Food and Nutrition website.
Voluntary student COVID-19 testing sign-up closes March 31
Families have another opportunity to sign up for voluntary student COVID-19 tests. The student COVID-19 tests will give the district a better snapshot of how prevalent the virus is in our schools.
Elementary nasal tests will be sent home April 12 and returned April 13 by 10:00 AM.
Middle and high school saliva tests will be sent home April 14 and returned April 15 by 10:00 AM.
Sign-up for voluntary student COVID-19 testing
Families who previously consented to voluntary student COVID-19 testing will automatically be included in this round of voluntary testing.
Families who did not consent or skipped the consent form will not be included in this round of voluntary testing.
If families need to manage, change or check your consent selection, login to ParentVUE, click on the Help tab and submit a BV CARE-Technology Help form to submit your written request.
Sign-ups can be changed between March 23-31.
Blue Valley Schools
Email: bvinfo@bluevalleyk12.org
Website: www.bluevalleyk12.org
Location: 15020 Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park, KS 66223, USA
Phone: 913-239-4000
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlueValleySchoolDistrict
Twitter: @BVSchools