DCS adds additional COVID-19 guidelines for upcoming school year
At Monday (August 2) evening’s Davidson County Schools (DCS) Board of Education, the question on most people’s minds was ‘Would students be required to wear masks for the 2021-22 school year?’” Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to make mask wearing optional in schools.
During the meeting DCS Superintendent Dr. Emily Lipe presented the most recent updates from the Strong Schools NC Public Health Toolkit (K-12). Per the school board’s direction to develop a plan making face coverings optional, the following plan for opening schools in 2021-22 was presented with additional prevention measures. They include:
Face coverings - Should be optional for staff and students in routine school settings. Per the CDC’s order, all students and staff are required to wear face coverings in all group transportation (buses, vans, driver’s education cars, etc.) due to the inability to layer additional prevention measures such as ventilation, social distancing, etc.
Visitors - Parents should be permitted to attend school functions. If parents visit their student for lunch, the principal will provide a private setting and restrict contact to be between just the parent and the child.
Isolation and quarantine - New guidance for excluding students and staff from school when they have been exposed to a confirmed positive will now include a multitude of factors such as (1) universal and correct mask wearing, (2) physical distancing, (3) increased ventilation, (4) vaccination status, (5) positive test within the last 3 months.
Continuation of instruction for isolated/quarantined students - As with any excused absence, students will be expected to complete assignments when they are absent due to isolation or quarantine. When feasible, assignments will be delivered to students electronically using learning management systems or school email accounts. If there is an active COVID-19 infection in a home, it is not an approved practice for an exposed individual to visit the school to obtain assignments for the student; instead, teachers and administrators will establish fair and consistent timelines for assignments to be completed once a student has returned to school.
Cleaning and hygiene - In addition to normal and routine cleaning procedures, all schools should clean surfaces once a day, prioritizing high-touch surfaces.
Threshold for considering a school closure due to increase in COVID infections - The Davidson County Health Department will establish a threshold for a percentage of active infections that could result in an individual school closure.
Multiple parents spoke in favor of optional mask wearing and shared their thoughts about Critical Race Theory being taught in schools. Paul Piatkowski, a teacher at North Davidson High School, advocated for mask wearing and offered to provide feedback to the board as needed during the 2021-2022 school year.
Under Curriculum and Instruction, the following approvals were made (all with unanimous votes):
Purchase of 225 Dell Computers for CTE programs from Tiber Creek Consulting. Cost is $242,945.64 and will be paid using federal PRC 017 CTE funds.
Participate Learning Ambassador fees for the 2021- 2022 school year. This agreement includes the healthcare, VISA costs, travel reimbursement, professional development, and 24ll support of foreign exchange teachers. Cost is $131,300.00 and will be paid using state funds from converted state teacher positions.
Purchase AP textbooks, Human Geography A Spatial Perspective, from Cengage Learning for the AP Human Geography high school course. The cost of the textbooks and digital resources is $34,980.00 and will be paid using state AIG funds.
Hill Reading Achievement Program (HillRAP) with Hill Learning Center. The research-based HillRAP training will be provided to all part-time reading specialists for the 2021-2022 school year. Cost is $30,000.00 and will be paid using district Title I federal funds.
Purchase of Studies Weekly newspaper resources for use with students in grades 2-5. Cost of the newspapers is $39,339.00 and will be paid using state textbook funds. Kristie Bonnett asked Dr. Deana Coley to clarify that this resource would not incorporate any elements Critical Race Theory. Coley shared a document from the company stating Studies Weekly does not take a stance regarding what should or should not be included in the curriculum and leaves those decisions to the district.
Purchase STAR reading and math assessment diagnostic tools and Freckle supplemental resource subscriptions from Renaissance, Inc. Cost of the diagnostic assessment tools and online supplemental platform is $346,256.80 and will be paid using state at risk funds and ESSER II funding.
Cost adjustment for the June 24, 2021 board-approved purchase of Promethean Boards with Encore Technology group. Cost adjustment is due to 18 Promethean Boards being left off the original quote. The adjusted cost of the boards is $42,266.06 and will be paid using ESSER II funds.
Under Human Resources, the following approvals were made with unanimous votes with the exception of one:
Approval of the requested member of the 2022-2023 School Calendar Committee
Approval of changes for DCHS, TMS, and Davidson Virtual Academy optional workdays to required workdays for the 2021- 2022 school year.
Approval for changes to the Technology Salary Grades. The board voted 4-0 to approve the changes; Ashley Carroll recused herself from the vote.
Approval of the Beginning Teacher Plan for 2021-22 school year. There are 105 participants in the program. Focus points for the year include coaching and observations for BTs, professional development for BT2s, and a state audit.
Under Operations, the following purchases were approved:
An overview was presenting for completing the additional phase of work for the HVAC and window replacement at YVRCA. The estimate for the remaining phases is between $1,108,400 to $1,330,000.
Approval to purchase a cooler freezer for Denton Elementary School from United Restaurant in the amount of $40,820.50 using School Nutrition funds. The board voted 5-0 to approve the purchase.
Approval to purchase a temperature monitoring system from E-Control Systems. The cost to purchase the system is $33,166.00 and will be paid using School Nutrition funds. The board voted to approve the purchase 5-0.
