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Elkins School District COVID-19 Hotline Number: 844-247-7471
December 11, 2020
Parents and Guardians,
Due to the increasing number of student cases of COVID-19 and large number of subsequent student quarantines the sixth grade at Elkins Middle School will shift to remote virtual learning December 14, 2020 through December 18, 2020. Onsite classes for sixth graders will resume as normal on December 21, 2020. All students were sent home with their district-issued Chromebook and charging cord today.
The format for virtual learning for next week will mirror each student’s daily class schedule. Students should log on to their Chromebook and join Google Classroom by 8:00 a.m. each morning. Each teacher will have a Google Meeting set up for students to join during each class period. Students will be expected to follow their normal class schedule and log on to each teacher’s Google Meeting at the correct time. The bell schedule is listed below:
8:00 - 8:50 Specials
8:55 - 9:45 1st Class
9:50-10:40 2nd Class
10:45 - 11:55 3rd Class
11:55-12:25 Lunch
12:30 - 1:20 4th Class
1:25 - 2:15 5th Class
2:20 - 3:20 Elk Hour (Tutoring/GT)
Teachers will host the Google Meetings with each class each day of the week in order to provide an opportunity for live instruction and discussion, and will post assignments that students need to complete in Google Classroom. If you do not have reliable internet access please contact the Middle School office for assistance. If students do not log on and join the Google Meeting for each class they will be counted absent. Food service/meal pickup will be available for all students on Monday, December 14th from 9:30-10:30 in the bus lane in front of Elkins Primary School. You can pick up free breakfast and lunch for all five days of the week at one time. Further questions about meal pickup can be sent to lskelton@elkinsdistrict.org.
We are confident that pausing onsite instruction will help prevent further spread of the virus, and ultimately is the best decision to promote student and staff health and safety. I appreciate your understanding and support in this endeavor. Please monitor your child for symptoms and make sure you report any positive COVID-19 test result within the household to the Elkins COVID-19 hotline at 1-844-247-7471.
Jeremy Mangrum
Superintendent
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November 23, 2020
Parents and Guardians,
I hope this letter finds you and your family well, and preparing to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday season. You are likely aware of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases around the state, and unfortunately we are seeing that same trend at Elkins School District. Until the end of last week our number of confirmed positive cases had been very small. So small in fact that it was below the threshold for what the Arkansas Department of Health advised should be legally published. ADH counseled school leaders in August that if the active case count was below five total cases then school districts should not share case counts in order to avoid a potential HIPAA violation. In accordance with that guidance ESD has not been publishing case counts. We have seen a surge of positive cases in recent days that has put us over the threshold of five or more active cases which means we will now be keeping a running total of confirmed case counts on the district website under the COVID-19 tab.
Currently, ESD is aware of twelve (12) active cases of COVID-19 between students and staff members. This is a substantial increase within the past week as we only had seven (7) confirmed total cases between students and staff members over the first twelve (12) weeks of school, and during that period there were never more than three active cases at any time. Another COVID-19 data point that has been watched carefully throughout the school year is the ADH’s COVID-19 Local View that can be found at this web address: https://achi.net/covid19/. This webpage will allow you to filter by county, city limit, school district boundaries, and zip code. One important note is that when filtering by school district boundaries to look at data it does not mean that you are looking at the cases among students and staff specifically. The cases listed are totals from all persons, regardless of age, that reside inside the district boundary lines. You can click on each individual district in the map to get a pop up box that will give you the more specific data about cases within the school district. Also, the districts are color coded with green being the lowest case numbers and red/purple being the highest case numbers. Elkins School District has been green for the entire school year with the exception of one week in October when we dipped to yellow for a few days before moving back to green. That changed this past Friday when our district dipped to orange status on the map.
I want to be clear that I am not announcing any type of shift or pivot to virtual learning in any of our schools, and as of this point the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and Governor Asa Hutchinson have been clear about the expectation to continue onsite instruction unless it is not possible. Based on current information we will be back in session on Monday, November 30, 2020 as planned. If that changes due to increased confirmed positive cases over the holiday break you will be notified, but no change is anticipated currently.
With more positive cases come more students that are ordered to quarantine. Many of you have dealt with or will soon be dealing with your child(ren) being quarantined after it has been determined that the student was a Probable Close Contact (PCC) to a confirmed positive case. I want to remind you of the protocols established by ADH and DESE regarding contact tracing within the school that we are required to follow.
When notified of a positive case our District Point of Contact (POC) immediately begins the contact tracing process. This contact tracing is limited to exposure while at school or school activities.
Any student or staff member that meets the definition set by ADH as a PCC is contacted along with the parent/guardian and notified of the 14-day quarantine. If a student/staff is within six feet of a confirmed positive case for 15 cumulative minutes during a 24-hour period then that person meets the definition of a PCC.
Students/staff that are identified as PCC’s are strongly encouraged, but not required, to be tested for COVID-19 on day five after exposure or sooner if symptoms develop.
When a student/staff member is identified as a PCC that person is not told who exposed them unless it is necessary to complete the contact tracing process. Parents should not demand to be told who the person was that exposed their child as this information will not be shared. This is prohibited by law.
If you have multiple children in the district it is very possible that one of them could get quarantined while the others are still allowed to go to school. Again, ESD is following ADH protocol by allowing the siblings to remain in attendance. The siblings are considered to be secondary contacts, and will not be required to quarantine unless someone living in the residence tests positive. If you choose to keep all siblings home when one of them is quarantined that is permitted, but you must notify the district POC and/or building principal of this decision.
While under quarantine, students will still need to complete their work from home as virtual students until the end of the quarantine period.
There is a COVID-19 hotline number that can be called to report a positive case seven days per week. That number is 844-247-7471.
Our teachers and other staff members have worked extremely hard this school year to make the school environment as safe as possible, and largely we have been successful at preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. Also, our students have done a fantastic job of complying with new rules and directives. However, we all have to continue to be diligent about following the guidelines in order to slow the spread. Elkins School District will be heavily sanitizing all school buildings and district facilities during the Thanksgiving break, and we ask that you continue to work with us in order to make our schools as safe as possible. Encourage your children to wear their mask, wash their hands, distance when possible. Please screen your child(ren) for symptoms daily before school, and keep them home if they are sick. Our goal is to provide a safe, high-quality educational environment for all of our students and staff members, and I am confident we can do that with everyone working together.
Go Elks!
Jeremy Mangrum
Superintendent
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July 9, 2020
Parents and Guardians,
There was a significant announcement made today regarding the start date for public schools in August. As you know Elkins School District’s 2020-2021 school calendar had the first day of school scheduled for August 13, 2020. Based on Governor Asa Hutchinson’s directive that was given this afternoon we will not be starting school as planned. Schools have been ordered to move the start date back to the week of August 24, 2020. It is my understanding that we can choose any date between August 24 and August 26 to be the first day of school.
Elkins School District was not given advance notice of this directive by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education so at this point our planning team has not been able to identify all of the potential ramifications of this school calendar change. I am hopeful that we will receive much more information soon. This will help our team make informed decisions about the upcoming school year, and that information will be communicated to students and parents as soon as possible.
This is a good example of how flexible our staff members, students, parents, and patrons will have to be during this upcoming 2020-2021 school year. I hope you and your family are healthy. Please continue to monitor your email, our district webpage, and social media pages for the most current updated information regarding the 20-21 school year. If you have questions please feel free to reach out to me at jmangrum@elkinsdistrict.org.
Go Elks!
Jeremy Mangrum
Superintendent
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June 24, 2020
Parents and Guardians,
I hope this letter finds you and your family well. Our team at Elkins School District has been working tirelessly to plan for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, and that task has not been without challenges. Our number one priority has always been and will continue to be the health and safety of our students and staff members. With that in mind some changes will be made to procedures, and this letter will detail those procedural changes by explaining what onsite education will look like in Elkins Schools when we start classes in August. Also, you will see an explanation of what virtual school provided by Elkins School District will look like. This letter will be lengthy, but it is important that you read in its entirety in order to understand your options in the upcoming school year as we as a district continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All plans, restrictions, and requirements for onsite instruction during the 2020-2021 school year have been formulated under the guidance of two entities. The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) have combined to issue directives to schools in order to plan for reentry. The document guiding schools is officially known as the Arkansas Ready for Learning Plan, and it can be found on the Arkansas Department of Education’s website. Our district is using this guide to plan for reentry. However, it is important to remember that this is a fluid situation, and sometimes guidance and requirements change. It is possible that new directives could be issued later this Summer which could facilitate changes to what Elkins School District will require during the 20-21 school year.
As of this moment, Elkins Schools will be in session as normal for onsite learning and instruction beginning August 13, 2020. The following list are items that our planning committee has addressed, and we feel it is paramount that this list is communicated to you:
We recognize the fact that some parents may not feel comfortable sending children to school even though many precautions are being taken to provide the safest school environment possible. In order to meet the learning needs of those students Elkins School District will offer a full service virtual school in the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. Many of you became familiar with the aspects of virtual school during the spring when we were required to shut the school doors with the rest of the schools in the state. If a parent chooses the virtual school option in the coming year the following list of comprises what can be expected:
Elkins School District will be sending out a required survey early in July. We will be asking you to submit your choice of onsite or virtual school to us by July 10 so that we can make final master scheduling plans in advance of the first day of school on August 13. Another contingency that we are planning for, and that parents and students need to be aware of is that onsite instruction could change very quickly during the school year. If we experience an outbreak of COVID-19 in the district it is possible that we could shut down all onsite activities and classes for one to two weeks to mitigate the spread. If we do this all students will continue to attend virtual school. The transition from onsite to virtual and back to onsite will be as seamless as possible.
We are generating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on our district website which will be posted soon. As you prepare to make the best decision for your student I would encourage you to visit the FAQ page for more information. The page will be updated frequently with questions and answers that are posed to us in the weeks to come. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have a specific question about the coming school year.
As you can see, we will be modifying many of our onsite procedures to make the environment as safe and healthy as possible, but much of the school day will look like it has in the past. It is not realistic to think that students can wear masks all day and be kept six feet apart at all times. Frankly, that is not feasible or practical. However, we will be encouraging and facilitating as much physical distancing as possible and strongly recommending masks when physical distancing is not possible for grades 4-12 in order to make the environment as safe as possible. I hope that this document has answered many of the questions you have about the upcoming school year. No matter what the format looks like we will continue to deliver a world-class education to our students.
Go Elks!
Jeremy Mangrum
Superintendent
”Committed to Excellence”