Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
Feedback is encouraged, please email esser@janesville.k12.wi.us
- Introduction
- Maintaining Health and Safety
- Mitigation Measures
- Continuity of Services
- Periodic Review
- Public Input
Introduction
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plans (ARP) Act was signed into law. In it, the U.S. Department of Education is providing an additional $121.9 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER III Fund). This legislation will award grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) for providing local educational agencies (LEAs) with emergency relief funds to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.
Wisconsin will receive $1,540,784,854 in ESSER III funds from the Act, with 90 percent being awarded to school districts with amounts determined in proportion to the amount of Title I, Part A funds they received in summer 2020 from funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The remaining funds will be used for state-level activities to address issues caused by COVID-19.
This plan describes how the LEA or district will provide a safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services for all schools, including those that have already returned to in-person instruction.
Maintaining Health and Safety
Overview
A district’s plan must include how it will maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other school and LEA staff, and the extent to which it has adopted policies or practices and a description of any such policies or practices on each of the CDC's safety recommendations including the universal and correct wearing of masks; modifying facilities to allow for physical distancing (e.g., use of cohorts/podding); hand washing and respiratory etiquette; cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving ventilation; contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the state, local, territorial, or Tribal health departments; diagnostic and screening testing; efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff, and students, if eligible; appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect to health and safety policies or practices; and coordination with state and local health officials.
Description on maintaining the safety of staff and students
The School District of Janesville offers virtual instructional models for grades K-12, a hybrid instructional model for grades 6-12 and an in person instructional model for all grades with five-day per week, face-to-face instruction and adheres to the Rock County Health Department health protocols. Accordingly, the District will:
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Description to continue to provide services regardless of the mode of instruction (for example, health and food services if the LEA must pivot to virtual or hybrid instruction)
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The School District of Janesville will offer in-person learning five days a week according to the Board adopted Academic Year Calendar. The school district also has virtual learning opportunities for K-12 students and hybrid learning opportunities for students in grades 6-12. In the event of school closure due to a pandemic, the district has one to one devices for all students to continue learning remotely. Regardless of the mode of instruction, the School District of Janesville will continue to provide meals under the community provision as long as USDA continues the allowance. If/when the allowance is discontinued the district will provide meals under the applicable paramerters of the USDA National School Lunch Program and USDA School Breakfast Program. Meals will be provided in the summer at identified sites through the USDA Seamless Summer Option. If school is closed due to a pandemic, the district will distribute meals for pickup at all school sites under the allowable USDA provisions available at that time. The School District of Janesville employs six full-time school nurses who will continue to offer health services in-person or virtually. The school district employs a grant funded part-time Mental Health Navigator who coordinates a systems approach to improve mental, social, and emotional health outcomes for the School District of Janesville students in the eight schools with satellite mental health offices and is working with our community providers to expand the satellite offices to other buildings. This position will continue to coordinate referrals for the satellite mental health offices if there is a pivot to virtual or hybrid instruction. |
Mitigation Measures
Universal and correct wearing of masks
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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The School District of Janesville has moved to a faze mask optional policy in district facilities. The School District of Janesville will continue to follow federal and local city government guidelines regarding mask requirements on public or district transportation. |
Modifying facilities to allow for physical distancing (for example, the use of cohorts and podding)
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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Mitigation measures such as water bottle filling stations have been implemented at each facility. |
Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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Handwashing and respiratory etiquette is taught to students with high emphasis in the primary grade levels. Initially signage was posted throughout all buildings as reminders of handwashing and respiratory etiquette. In addition, hand sanitizing stations are located prominently within all district facilities. |
Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving ventilation
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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Enhanced sanitation procedures by the Facility Services Department in conjunction with Rock County Health Department recommendations were implemented at all schools focusing on high-touch surfaces. As COVID-19 has transitioned from pandemic to a Communicable Disease the district has returned to universal sanitation procedures as outlined in the district's Custodial Handbook. The ventilation rate in each School District of Janesville building meets state recommendations for air exchange. Six to eight exchanges occur per hour in both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned buildings. |
Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the State, local, territorial, or Tribal health departments
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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The medical field is starting to move to treating COVID like Influenza. If a student is COVID positive the parent can use their parent excused days or get a medical note to have the days mediaclly excused. Per the CDC and Rock County Health Department close caontacts are not required to quarantine unless they are showing COVID symptoms or are asymptomatic and test positive. |
Diagnostic and screening testing
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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The School District of Janesville recommends students and staff follow Rock County Public Health Department guidelines for COVID testing. |
Efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff, and students, if eligible
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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The School District of Janesville worked with Mercy Health to provide initial vaccinations to staff on January 22, 2021 with follow-up vaccination appointments six weeks later. The School District of Janesville has continued to provide information on initial vaccination and booster shot information and availability from local resources to staff and School District families via email. The School District hosted Pfizer COVID Booster clinics through AMi at Craig High School on October 22, 2021 and Parker High School on October 29, 2021. |
Appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect to health and safety policies and practices
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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When circumstances require specific policies or procedures designed to protect the health and safety of students, 504 and IEP teams will determine if modifications and/or reasonable accommodations are needed for individual students with disability-related issues. |
Coordination with state and local health officials
Description of Policies or Practices, if applicable
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The CDC recommends that all decisions about implementing school-based strategies should be made locally, collaborating with local health officials who can help determine the level of transmission in the community. When COVID - 19 was identified as a pandemic the School District of Janesville worked with the Rock County Public Health Department to implement mitigating strategies for the safety of students and staff. |
Continuity of Services
Overview
Districts must describe how the LEA will ensure continuity of services, including but not limited to services to address students' academic needs and students' and staff social, emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include student health and food services.
District response on continuity of services
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The District will provide for continuity of services as follows: Student Academic NeedsThe School District of Janesville continues full-time, in-person instruction which started the fall of 2020, with limited exception. The School District added additional personnel through the 22-23 school year to address lower class sizes at the elementary and middle school levels for greater access to learning fundamental skills and maintain access to academic pathways at the high school level disrupted due to COVID-19. Additional staff were hired with federal grant funding to provide academic interventions, especially in the core areas of Math and Reading. A new standars-alignedMath and English Language Arts curriculum have been implemented across grade levels. The district identified knowlege gaps due to pandemic through state and local English Language Arts and Math Assessments to drive classroom insturctional decisions to improve student outcomes. Student Social, Emotional, and Mental Health NeedsThe School District of Janesville has a written Distance Learning Plan that outlines Roles and Responsibilities for all staff including Student Services Staff to assist with student’s social, emotional and mental health needs regardless of instructional method. Other Student Needs (which may include student health and food services)Food services will continue to provide meals under the community provision as long as USDA continues the allowance. Meals will be provided during the summer months at identified sites as well as to all eligible youth during the school year. Staff Social, Emotional, and Mental Health NeedsThe staff’s social, emotional, and mental health needs may be addressed through the Employee Assistance Program at no cost to the employee. Other Staff NeedsThe District will follow national, state, and local governing agencies’ laws and directives concerning staff employment and benefits. |
Periodic Review
Overview
Districts are required to review and, as appropriate, revise their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan at least every six months through September 30, 2023, including seeking public input and taking such input into account in determining whether to revise the plan and, if revisions are determined necessary, on the revisions it makes to its plan.
District response on ensuring periodic updates to its plan
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The School District of Janesville will periodically review and, as needed, revise the plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services. The plan will be reviewed at least every six months, and the school system will seek and take into account public input during the review process. Plan revisions will address updated CDC, Rock County Health Department and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction guidance. |
Public Input
Overview
The ARP Act requires that school districts make their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan available to the public online and that the plans be in an understandable and uniform format; to the extent practicable, are written in a language that parents can understand or, if not practicable, orally translated; and upon request by a parent who is an individual with a disability, provided in an alternative format accessible to that parent. Before making its plan publicly available, school districts must seek public comment on the plan and develop the plan after taking into account public comment.
District response on public input in the development of its plan
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The School District of Janesville has taken the following steps to make its plan available to the public:
This plan was developed from information shared since the reopening of schools after the Governor’s School Closing was rescinded taking into consideration public comment at School Board Meetings, Parent and Staff surveys, Rock County Public Health Department recommendations and Administrative review of student and staff needs. The district has an ESSER email address, esser@janesville.k12.wi.us, that is checked weekly with public input taken into consideration as the aspects of this plan are periodically reveiwed. 1st update - August 1, 2022 |