March 13, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
Although there are no reports or documented cases of the coronavirus in DeKalb County, the school system is being proactive with the pandemic threat and continues to monitor the situation.
At this point, schools in DeKalb County are not on shutdown due to the coronavirus, but if that is deemed necessary, the school district is prepared to take action.
During the monthly meeting Thursday night, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps advised the Board of Education that should schools be closed in the days or weeks ahead, the shutdown would also apply to all school sporting and extracurricular events. Some planned school related trips involving students have already been cancelled.
“If we have to shut down for the coronavirus issue that means everything in the district will shut down. Sports and all. Everything. If it is serious enough for us to close schools it is serious enough for us to close those events as well. We need to make sure everyone understands that. Its not free vacation time. We are taking this very seriously. The staff at the central office and our administrators have to make a lot of tough decisions and I will back them but first and foremost is the safety and health of our students and what they face,” said Director Cripps.
Under state law, local school districts have to complete 180 days of classroom instruction per year and while he has sought guidance from the Tennessee Department of Education on a course of action, Director Cripps said it appears the state is allowing local school districts to develop their own plan.
“I was on the phone with the Commissioner of Education this afternoon (Thursday) looking for guidance. The Governor seems to be leaning toward leaving it up to each local education association so our team at the central office and with our administrators at the schools have prepared a press release on how we are going to move forward with our plans for education in the county. It also addresses what parents and students can do to keep themselves safe by practicing good hygiene and cleanliness,” said Director Cripps.
Under the plan, Cripps said homework would be assigned for students during the time schools are closed.
“If we are closed for an extended period of time we are devising a plan for our students to be able to keep up with work while they are at home. We will do this in various ways. With our high school students, they have their one to one devices (1:1). We will communicate classroom work with Goggle Classroom and things like that so students can keep up with their course work. For students in grades 6 to 8 we will have a couple of options and we are still considering those including whether we send computers home with them or whether we do homework packets. The same thing is being considered for pre-K to 5th grade students. We plan to assign lessons for 3 to 5 days,” Director Cripps continued.
Schools are already scheduled to close for spring break March 23 to March 27 and the school district still has four snow days left that could be used.
“We will keep monitoring the situation. We are going on the advice of our local health officials and following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. We are deep cleaning the schools and cleaning in between classes. Our bus drivers are cleaning their buses. We are doing everything we possibly can,” said Director Cripps.
“As chairman of the school board I want to tell Mr. Cripps and our staff that we support you. Some tough decisions may be required but we are there behind you in making those decisions,” said Board Chairman Danny Parkerson.
The press release issued by the DeKalb County School District is as follows:
“The DeKalb County School System is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and is making the necessary preparation in case the COVID-19 becomes more prevalent in our community, For now, there have been no indications of a coronavirus outbreak in our district but we will continue to work with local health professionals to monitor the situation and receive updated guidance.”
“We all play a role in reducing the likelihood of a coronavirus outbreak in our district community. We encourage everyone to practice good habits:
*Wash your hands regularly, especially after using the restroom and before preparing or consuming food. Wash for 20 seconds, using soap and hot water. Be sure to also wash fingertips.
*Avoid coughing or sneezing into your hand or in the air. Always try to cough or sneeze into a tissue, and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue, cough/sneeze into your arm.
*As much as you can, avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.
* If children are feeling sick, please keep them home from school. Allow them some time to feel better so that they do not risk infecting others. These absences will be excused with a note from the parent.
“The system will continue to communicate with families and the community in the days and weeks to come”.
“It is possible that we may need to cancel classes if it appears the coronavirus has affected our community in a significant way,” said Director Cripps. “As always, the safety of our students, staff, and families remains our top priority. We will act with an abundance of caution to protect everyone’s health and well-being. We have found that the most effective way to communicate this information is through our local media outlets, School Messenger phone calls, and Skyward notifications. Additional cleaning practices have been implemented for schools and school buses. An alternate academic plan is being developed and will be utilized in the event of an extended school closure,” the press release concluded.