SCS | 😷 COVID-19 FAQs | August 31st, 2021

😷 COVID-19 FAQs

🤔 Has SCS filed the appropriate paperwork with The Ohio Department of Education to go into a temporary “blended learning” situation if the need arises during the school year? 

• All required forms were submitted for approval early in the summer in anticipation of this need.

🤔 Will the district and or individual school buildings close due to an increased COVID outbreak? 

• Health Department guidance asserts that masked students learning in the school buildings are safe. Keeping our buildings open for learning is a top priority. We will only close the school(s) on a temporary basis if too many staff members become ill and we cannot fill enough sub positions to appropriately monitor students.
• SCS may also offer temporary online instruction days using the available online technology like Google Meets and individual teacher Google Classrooms until our staffing levels improve.
  • Online instruction days could be called for a specific grade level or individual buildings.
  • Parents will be notified as quickly as possible so alternative plans can be made.
  • Teachers will upload assignments to their Google Classroom for students to work on while at home.
  • During online instruction days, teachers who are not absent from school will hold office hours and will communicate meeting times in their Google Classroom.
• SCS may also call district-wide calamity days, similar to an unforeseen “snow-day.” After our calamity days are exhausted, any additional days will have to be made up at the end of the year.

🤔 Now that a mask mandate is in place, will my child have to quarantine at home if they are considered a COVID-19 close contact? 

• Unmasked students are required to quarantine at home for the entire quarantine period set forth by our local health department. This guidance is located at our Safe Return to schools weblink: https://www.scsrockets.org/safe/
• Students who wear a mask indoors at school may still attend classes and extracurricular meetings/ practices (with their mask) after school if they are identified as a close contact from school exposure. There are variables that change the quarantine guidance. We follow Portage County Health Department quarantining guidelines. These guidelines are available on our district website and on the Portage County Health Department website. In general, universal masking reduces the number of students who will have to quarantine at home.

🤔 Does my child have to wear a mask? 

• All students, staff and visitors to any SCS buildings are now required to wear a mask indoors.
• It is strongly suggested and encouraged to wear a mask while attending any school sponsored outdoor activities.

🤔 If my child is in quarantine, what can be done so students won’t fall behind? 

• A COVID-19 absence (actual sickness or a quarantine situation due to close contact exposure) will be treated like any other absence.
• Students will have the number of days he or she was absent to make up their missing work when they return to school.
• Parents can request make-up work from their child’s teacher prior to their child’s return to school.
• Teachers will organize digital classwork using their Google Classroom. Students will continue to have access to their assignments while they are absent.

🤔 Last year, parents could opt to keep their children home learning in a remote setting. Why isn’t this the case this year?

• While there are some exceptions, students learn best while attending school. With a better understanding of COVID-19 transmission, our state legislature directed school districts to make the return to in-person instruction the priority.
• The laws that allowed us to do online instruction like last school year expired for this school year because the focus for learning has returned to in-person instruction.
• Prior to the pandemic, SCS worked with a third party online provider to host the “Rocket Digital Academy” for students with medical conditions that prevented students from regularly attending one of our school buildings. This alternative learning model is designed for a long-term placement.
• Current guidelines do not support our “Rocket Digital Academy” model to be a temporary “fix” for students who become ill (and recover) or for students who have to temporarily go into quarantine due to coming in close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.
• SCS filed the necessary paperwork over the summer to allow online instruction to continue for these types of medical situations.

We will continue to keep you informed about school during COVID – check this newsletter, or website for the latest. Have a question you didn’t see here? Let us know at launch@scsrockets.org

Thank you,

Cynthia Deevers
Director of Student Services