BV Schools Monday Minute

As announced in early July, the Buena Vista School District intends to open for in-person learning. We will continue with some of the successful COVID mitigation practices used last year but with a better BALANCE of practices that allow us to provide high quality learning for students. We are committed to prioritizing the overall well being of our staff and students by reducing risk in ways that also allow for consistent in-person learning without unnecessary disruption.

We understand CDC has changed some of its position/recommendations in recent days. While recommending more caution, CDC continues to prioritize and support in-person learning. The Buena Vista School District will continue to meet with local public health in the weeks prior to school opening. To date, the Chaffee County Local Public Health Order does not have specific restrictions on our schools.

The BV Board of Education Resolution regarding School Opening in Recovery can be found linked here.

In the Recovery Stage of the Pandemic, the Buena Vista School District will operate in the 2021-22 school year with Unrestricted In-Person Learning. The previous year required an emergency response to the pandemic that resulted in disrupted in-person learning. With the information and experience from the previous year, with the availability of a vaccination, with consultation from our local public health, and with the purpose of prioritizing academic learning and thinking skills of our students, unrestricted in-person learning is not only possible, but essential to the overall well-being of our students, staff and community.

Unrestricted In-Person Learning in BV Schools Explained as of 8/01/2021:

• Mitigation Practices will continue: A layered approach will be used to reduce risk, meaning we will use a combination of practices appropriate for each environment.

• Ionization systems throughout ventilation at elementary

• UV lighting and oxidizers used routinely throughout all buildings and in impacted areas

• Staying home when sick until symptoms resolve

• Routine disinfecting through wiping of high touch areas

• Using the outdoors for instruction and distancing when possible

• Daily symptom checking will continue to be the responsibility of the family but the District will no longer require a reporting through the QR scan code;

• Students and staff, no matter the illness, should stay at home for 24 hours after symptoms begin improving;

• Students will have access to remote learning when required to stay home for illness longer than three days;

• All students, staff, and families will have access to school/work activities regardless of vaccination status so long as state or federal authority allows;

• Students, staff, and visitors will not be required to wear masks except when riding a bus or in other situations as determined by the school nurse;

• Any person may voluntarily wear a mask and we will fully protect and honor the person’s choice as a school community. It will be our responsibility to ensure this is protected;

• If a person in the school is diagnosed with COVID, those who have significant exposure will be notified by the school nurse. Significant exposure in BV Schools means within 3 feet for 45 consecutive minutes. The notification allows the family to closely monitor for symptoms. Those who have significant exposure will not be restricted from attendance or participation in activities so long as they remain symptom-free. Testing may be available to confirm negative status.

• If a person in the school is diagnosed with COVID, the person will be excluded from school for 24 hours after symptoms resolve or after 7 days from positive test/symptom onset. A negative test may be required to return to school;

• If a person in a household is diagnosed with COVID, the person is to remain home for 72 hours and then be tested regularly for up to 10 days after exposure;

• If the school nurse determines 4% of a school, over a 7 day period, is diagnosed with a likely same illness, like COVID, the Response Team will meet to determine next steps, which most often will result in the entire school shifting to remote learning for up to five days;

• If local public health determines transmission and/or hospitalization rate in the local community is rising significantly, the Response Team will meet to determine next steps, which will likely result in a return to additional mitigation practices like masking, social distancing, and remote learning for groups for short periods of time.

• As required, the District has notified the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) it will only participate in Temporary Remote Learning Options for the 2021-22 school year. CDE has established expectations for all schools to meet even during these temporary closures due to COVID. You can link to CDE’s temporary remote learning information here.

Our medical community volunteers to provide FREE physicals that are required for participation in school athletics. A packet to complete is on the district website under your school or can be picked up at the District Office.

AUGUST 10

6:00-8:00 PM

BVMS/BVHS ATHLETIC COMMONS ENTRANCE

Link here to download Athletic Forms and Handbook

Each Monday, BV Schools will host a virtual meeting at 5:00 pm. This is open to all families to hear more about the status of learning in the school and to ask questions.

Join through the link below or by going to ZOOM and entering: 821 3222 5223

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82132225223?pwd=a01jaHphSER6cHJLMTJBRGliclF3dz09

Students 1st Day Back to School is August 26th!

Remember to register your student(s) for school through our website this year! We appreciate your registration by August 13th for our planning. You can log in to register through Infinite Campus to begin. For more information about online registration link here and also copied below.

Email: lyates@bvschools.org
Website: bvschools.org
Location: 113 North Court Street, Buena Vista, CO, USA
Phone: 719-239-0435