BY LAURA SCHIERMEIER

ADVOCATE Staff Writer

lschiermeier@wardpub.com

VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School District plans to reopen school on Monday, August 24. Plans have been put into place and the school district wants parents to know a smooth reopening is planned so that children can get back to school in a safe place to learn. 

Maries R-1 Superintendent Mark Parker said as they navigate through these unknown waters, the parents and the school must work together  to continue to provide a safe and clean environment for all people that enter school buildings. For this reason it will be imperative that students and staff not come to school if they are sick, have COVID symptoms, or know that they have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19. 

Parents are asked to take an active role in prevention by checking  the health of their child on a daily basis, and if they are sick, please notify the school. By doing these things and keeping students home when sick, having been exposed, or symptomatic, they will be doing their part in keeping everyone safe.

Classes begin on campus on Aug. 24. RTI classes in Rolla begin the same day. Rolla Public Schools requires students attending to wear masks.

At Maries R-1, students will follow a normal class schedule for eight class periods, five days a week. Specials will begin also. Within the classroom, students will be spread out and will maintain social distancing. This may be easier in some classes than in others.

K-12 PE classes will do their best to use outdoor spaces when possible. Locker room space and use may be modified to maintain social distancing or the number of people in a room may be limited at times.

Should school have to be shut down or any group need to be quarantined due to a widespread outbreak, distance learning will take effect. Parker said normal grading practices will take place including if the school has to begin distance learning. Maries R-1 has guidelines for distance learning.

Transportation

Students are encouraged to drive, walk or get dropped off when arriving and leaving school. On the school buses, social distancing will be used to the extent possible. On the bus, students will be in assigned seats. The driver will assign them. Weather permitting, buses will travel with windows open to increase air flow. Hand sanitizer will be used when loading the bus and students are encouraged to wear a mask on the bus. The buses will be sanitized after each route. Drivers will self check their own temperature and perform a self assessment of themselves before each route. Drivers will be required to wear a mask when students are within six feet.

Masks

Face masks are highly recommended for students but not mandatory at this time. All students are asked to have a mask in case situations arise when masks are needed for protection. Parker said if a health crisis arrises, students and staff will be required to wear a mask.

Visitors to school

Only visitors deemed absolutely necessary will be allowed in the buildings and will be required to wear a mask and have a health screen. Prior arrangement with the building principal is recommended.

Parents’ responsibility

Parker said it is imperative the school has current parent contact information with phone and cell numbers, email addresses and physical addresses. Inform the school of changes throughout the school year. Parents will need to sign up for the school’s new parent communication tool, Enotes, as the school moves away from textcaster.

Parents are asked to help with the safe opening of school by performing daily health checks on their children. If a child has a fever or is sick and has any Covid-19 symptoms, do not send them to school as this will cause others to become sick as well. Parents will have to read all the information about how the school will operate and sign off on a sheet stating they have read it.

Arriving at School

Teachers and staff will compete a health assessment and temperature check upon arriving each day before they enter their classroom. Parents will have the responsibility to perform the health check on their children. Staff will monitor student health during the school day and school health personnel will intervene if student’s health is in question. See the school’s website for screening and isolation protocols.

Food Service

Breakfast will be served daily and students will leave the cafeteria when they are finished eating and to directly to their first hour class. ES students will go to their classrooms upon arrival or after finishing breakfast. MS and HS students will social distance.

During ES lunch shift grades K-2 will eat in the cafeteria and will be spaced throughout the room. Grades 3-5 will eat in their classrooms.

MS and HS shifts will remain at the same times but students will spread out every other seat and the number of students in the cafeteria will be decreased with some classes eating outside. A seating chart in the cafeteria will be instituted.

Recess/Physical activity

Recess will be scheduled so the number of students outside at a given time will be limited. Hand sanitizer will be used before and after and playground equipment will be cleaned.

Classrooms

Desks/chairs will be spaced 6 feet apart or as close to that as possible. Teachers will wear masks when monitoring hallways and working closely with students. Students will not share supplies. Computers will be wiped down at the end of each class period. Frequent hand washing and sanitizing will be incorporated. Students are encouraged to wear masks in hallways and at lockers.

Passing periods

Masks are highly encouraged when students are passing between classes. Hand sanitizer will be used both as students leave and enter classrooms. Some stairwells will be marked “down” and “up” to reduce face-to-face contact.

Restrooms

In the ES bathroom breaks will be a class at a time. The number of students allowed in the restroom at one time is four. Proper hand washing is emphasized.

Student and Staff Health

Masks are encouraged to be worn when social distancing is not possible. Parents are important in helping keep students and staff safe by monitoring their children’s health. Students who go to the nurses office are required to wear masks. Students are required to have immunizations up-to-date.

Athletics/Student activities

Temperatures will be checked before each contest before athletes/students is allowed to participate. Students and staff will be required to wear a mask on the bus to the event. Some communication between competing schools will take place before each contest to ensure safety of everyone. This could change quickly as a school could contact Maries R-1 saying there is a positive case and the event is postponed. Fans are asked to sit on the same side of the gym/ballpark and not socialize with opposing fans. Masks are encouraged around concession areas and all inside games. Student-athletes will be required to sign a Participation Covid-19 waiver.

General info

Refillable water bottles will be the only way to access water.

If there is a positive case, the Phelps-Maries Health Department will assume control of the situation. The health department will be in charge of contacting those people that need to be contacted. This will not come from the school. Depending on the situation, school may only close for a day for further cleaning or for possibly longer. If a widespread outbreak occurs, distance learning could take effect.

On the first day, Pre-K and kindergarten students’ parents will be allowed into the building to drop their child off in the classroom but time will be limited to five minutes and must be health screened first.