What is the advisory health metric that needs to be satisfied for SSD to consider offering In-Person Hybrid Instruction for elementary students?
The advisory health metric set by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL) guidance indicates that we need to have 350 or fewer positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 over the previous two-week period in Columbia, Washington, and Multnomah Counties. 

What is the advisory health metric that needs to be satisfied for SSD to consider offering In-Person Hybrid Instruction for secondary students?
The advisory health metric set by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL) guidance indicates that we need to have 200 or fewer positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 over the previous two-week period in Columbia, Washington, and Multnomah Counties. 

How many students will be in a classroom?
Per guidance from the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority in Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSS), each student is required to have 35 square feet of space to ensure social distancing. With that restriction in mind, most of our classrooms will have enough space for 10-17 people, which includes students and staff.

Will my child be screened for COVID-19 symptoms?
Parents and guardians will be asked to do a daily health evaluation before sending students to school. If a student exhibits a fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, a new loss of taste or smell, or any of the symptoms on our Home-Based Student Screening GuidePDF opens in a new window, the student should stay home. Students also will be visually screened by drivers upon boarding school buses and by staff upon arriving at school

Will temperature checks be done daily on students and staff?
Temperature checks are not required on the bus or at school.

Will my child have to wear a face covering for In-Person Hybrid Instruction?
Students who abstain from wearing a face covering, or students whose families determine the student will not wear a face covering, during On-Site instruction must be provided access to instruction. Comprehensive Distance Learning may and should be utilized as an option, however additional provisions apply to students protected under ADA and IDEA.  All these safety measures are mandated by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSS) guidance.

What happens if a student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms at school?
Each school has designated an isolation room or area, separate from the health room. If a student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms during the day, the student will be sent to the isolation area. The child will be supervised by an adult and wait in the isolation area until picked up by a parent or guardian, who will receive instructions on next steps and information for when the student may return to school.

It’s extremely important that you make sure your students’ emergency contact information is up-to-date in our system.

When will a classroom need to be quarantined?
If a student or staff member has a positive or presumptive case of COVID-19, the entire cohort may be quarantined and move to online learning with their Hybrid teacher for 10 days.

A presumptive case is defined as a person experiencing at least two of these COVID-19 symptoms: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or a new loss of taste or smell; the person has not had a positive COVID-19 test but has had close contact with a confirmed case in the past 14 days.

When will a school be quarantined?
If a school has multiple cohorts impacted by COVID-19, the entire school may need to revert to remote learning for 10 days. Your school’s principal will communicate with you.

If a student’s parent/guardian, sibling or immediate family member tests positive for COVID-19 and the student quarantines, will the student’s school attendance cohort also need to quarantine?
The attendance cohort would be considered a “contact to a contact” and therefore would not have to quarantine.

If a staff member’s immediate family member tests positive for COVID-19 and the staff member quarantines, will the staff’s school attendance cohort also need to quarantine?
The staff’s attendance cohort would be considered a “contact to a contact” and therefore would not have to quarantine.

Are specialists, substitutes and maintenance employees going to be moving from school to school?
We’re looking for ways to minimize movement of all staff between schools.

Will parents or guardians be allowed inside schools?
Visitors may not freely enter school buildings at this time. Families who make prior arrangements may enter through the main office.

Will students share supplies?
Supplies and classroom libraries may be divided between cohorts. Students may be directed to keep their own supplies in a box, bin or cubby.

If a middle school teacher tests positive for COVID-19, do all of that teacher’s students in all of the teacher’s classes have to quarantine?
Not necessarily. There will be contact tracing to see if students were in close contact with the teacher. If it was determined that a student or students were, they would need to quarantine for 10 days.

Will handwashing be mandatory for students?
Yes, students must wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (with 60-95% alcohol) when they arrive at school, before and after meals, and periodically throughout the day.

Will the District provide all the cleaning supplies, particularly disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer, for the classrooms?
The district has purchased and installed free-standing hand-sanitizer dispensers and wall-mounted dispensers throughout the schools, targeting building entrances, cafeterias and other key areas. The schools also will have a supply of hand sanitizer bottles and household disinfecting wipes to use in classrooms and other areas as needed. 

Staff will disinfect high-touch surfaces.

How and how often will bathrooms be disinfected?
Bathrooms will be disinfected several times a day. Due to room capacity requirements, only a certain number of students will be allowed in the bathrooms at any one time, depending on the size of the space.

What are the plans for social distancing if and when a school is put into lockdown?
In an emergency situation, SSD staff will do their best to maintain social distancing between students; however, the immediate well-being of all students and staff is our priority. That means social distancing may not be practical in a situation where students and staff need to quickly get to a safe location in the school.  

If a student-athlete tests positive for COVID-19, would the student’s school attendance cohort have to quarantine or just the sports team?
These cases will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the district nurse in consultation with Columbia County Public Health to determine close contact and whether students will need to be quarantined

If, for example, if another football team plays a Scappoose High School football team, and it’s determined that a player on the SHS team tested positive for COVID-19, would both teams have to be quarantined? 
These cases will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the district nurse in consultation with Columbia County Public Health to determine close contact and whether students will need to be quarantined