Special Gating Criteria Update
District Newsletter
Update
On Wednesday, Mr. Van Ranken answered some questions we’ve been getting in a video. You can see that below. The text summary of what was discussed is below the video a well.
Q: What was used to set up the gating criteria?
A: There were five criteria that KSDE and KDHE put out a few weeks ago for districts to consider for guidance in establishing which mode of operation districts will be in. Those criteria are student absenteeism, or an average daily attendance compared to the previous year. We will also be looking at the two-week positive case rate. The third criteria was the trend in county incidence rate.
The two data points the Harvey County Health Department said wouldn’t be as valuable to us but could be used if there ever is an issue is the two-week cumulative county incidence rate and the local/referring hospital capacity.
Q: What will activities look like?
A: The goal of the BOE is to ensure that students have the ability to participate in activities all the way to the red. There may be some changes that will be made on that weekly basis depending on what mode we will be in. We will follow social distancing, hygiene and safety practices. There may be some restrictions for spectators. There are some procedures the athletics department has put out as well. If there is a league school with stricter criteria, we will need to follow their rules at their competitions.
Q: Pre-K -6 is different from 7-12 in these gating criteria. Why was that decision made?
A: That was a function of the criteria we received. Also, when we are looking at this we need to balance safety as it relates to the virus and as it relates to normal life and things like young children potentially being home alone.
Q: Who all worked on putting together the criteria?
A: There was a group of administrators, board of education members, the Harvey County Health Department as well as our head nurse. There was also some input from local doctors.
Q: When will families know what mode they are in for each week.
A: The goal would be to meet sometime on Monday. There will be a special board meeting each week. There will be a discussion and the superintendent will present the board the data and the decision would be made for the following week.
Q: Some families were wondering if they could change from flexible to remote or vice versa now that they have more information. Is that possible?
A: They need to reach out to their building principals. We want to accommodate every parent in their choice. I know you didn’t have this information when you had to make this decision. We didn’t know this information when you had to make the decision either. We didn’t know about the distinction between the older and younger students.