Responding to Potential COVID Positive Case

By Nicki Pope, Lemonweir Elementary School Principal

Prior to the reopening of our 45-15 calendar, the Tomah Area School District surveyed our families so we could have an accurate pulse of what the community was wanting to see happen. Based on the survey results, 82% of our population was seeking an in-person option for their student. Once we recognized the desire of the community, we started the journey on how to best deliver this while mitigating the risk of COVID 19 for both students and staff. Those students and families that were not comfortable with a face–to-face option were given a virtual option for instruction instead.

Lemonweir focused their efforts around creating a cohort model for the classrooms. There were several schedule changes that were made to include eating lunch in the classroom, separate recesses, specials delivering instruction in the room and no shared spaces. There was also a great deal of effort put into our arrival and dismissal procedures to minimize contact students would have with others outside of their cohort.

The first day back was full of excitement and anxiety! The students were eager to see their friends and be back at school. The educators were equally as joyful to see their past students as well as the new class coming in. They were also anxious about making sure they were doing “the right thing” and keeping everyone safe. The students did an excellent job following the new procedures and were very mindful about social distancing. Like any new procedure there were a few changes we made right away. For example, when first considering the dismissal process, it was thought that students would have to start dismissing by 2:36 p.m. in order for them to all safely get out of the building and on transportation without there being a mass exit and students congregating. After the first week, we were able to dismiss students in a fashion that allowed for us to go back to a 3 p.m. dismissal time and have everyone loaded on the bus by 3:07 p.m. for departure.

After the first three days, we had our first potential positive COVID scare. I received the information on a Saturday evening that two students were presumed positive and spent all of Sunday working together with the health department on the next course of action. I was asked to go in and measure 6 feet from where the students were seated and those students within that perimeter were contacted by the health department and asked to quarantine. As a team, we decided that I would contact all of the remaining families as a courtesy to let them know the situation and answer any questions they may have. We also sent out a letter to the entire building notifying them of what our procedure was going to be and worked on creating a virtual option for our students/teachers that were asked to quarantine.

Our plan was to have our teachers teach virtually from home, so both students that were still in the classroom and those that were quarantined would be receiving the same instruction. We were able to deliver devices home to families and were ready to start the process when we received the “all clear” message from the county and students/staff were able to return.

Since then, I have asked our teachers to create pods within the classroom that are six feet from each other. This is an attempt to decrease contact even more so within the classroom. I have also asked them to make a map of their seating arrangement for quick access if a similar situation were to happen in the future. They are keeping track of students that are spending more than 15 consecutive or cumulative minutes with each other or with the teacher.

One thing that I have learned in the last few weeks is that the sky is not falling! Our students and parents have been wonderful to work with and agree that their children need to have their teachers teaching. I have also learned that there are going to be students that need to quarantine and there are going to be cases. I feel that we have worked hard to mitigate their risk, but like everything in education, they are only with us for 7 hours of their day.

As we move forward, I am confident that we will be able to tackle these new barriers and become even more efficient at being able to go virtual if the situation arises. I am incredibly proud of the educators within my building, our district and community. We continue to hold strong to the belief that we have an obligation to educate our children and that our teachers are truly essential workers. Now more than ever they are valued.