Update to Return-to-Learn Plan

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are required to stay home for 10 days and be 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications prior to returning to school or work. Individuals who test positive will be emailed COVID-19 resources. An email notification will be sent to the entire grade level within an elementary school when a positive case is confirmed.

Contact tracing will ONLY BE COMPLETED within the

immediate household of the positive individual, and those individuals are highly encouraged to quarantine. The Iowa Department of Public Health adjusted COVID-19

surveillance to follow the influenza model. This means districts cannot independently contact trace. Any contact tracing and follow-up would need to be led by the Polk County Health Department (PCHD).

Individuals who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are highly encouraged to receive one. Numerous

organizations offer free vaccines within Polk County.

Free COVID-19 testing kits may be available in each building, based on availability. These kits are to be used at home and mailed to a testing facility to receive results. These kits are not to be returned to any WDMCS building. Central Iowa

testing locations will be frequently shared with families and staff. WDMCS is not allowed to independently administer tests.

WDMCS will post confirmed cases of COVID-19 that have been reported to the district on a weekly basis. The dashboard will include building-specific positive cases, grouped by both students and staff.

Students and staff will be asked to stay home if they feel ill and/or have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher. Student absences will be recorded in Infinite Campus, and staff absences will be recorded through their standard leave process.

All individuals, including students, staff, and visitors, are required to wear face masks while indoors. Face masks are available in each building. Contact your building

administrator to request an exemption based on

documented medical and/or religious situations.

Face masks are required on all school buses.

Hand sanitizer and handwashing stations are available and encouraged.

In 2020, WDMCS upgraded the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system to remove viral particles.

(We changed from MERV 8 to MERV 13-14 filters.)

Federal emergency relief funds will be used to continue HVAC updates across the district as part of ongoing construction work.

Water bottle stations are available in all school buildings. Students and staff are encouraged to bring their own

reusable water bottles.

Cleaning and disinfecting will continue in each area. This will occur on an enhanced schedule in elementary buildings.

High-touch areas will be cleaned and disinfected regularly throughout the day.

Plexiglass barriers will remain within district and school

office spaces that have public-facing interaction. Face shields will continue to be made available to students and staff as an extra layer of protection.

Cleaning and disinfecting supplies will be provided for each space in buildings.

Students will participate in recess and P.E. with their peers.

Breakfasts will be eaten in the cafeteria. Elementary students will eat in the cafeteria at assigned tables. Hand sanitizer will be available.

Lunches will be eaten in the cafeteria. Elementary students will eat in the cafeteria with their class and have assigned seating. Hand sanitizer will be available.

Parents and guests will not be allowed to eat with students at school.

Volunteers will be on an invitation-only basis from a building administrator/teacher/program. All volunteers are required to wear face masks indoors.

Elementary assemblies, concerts, field trips, and events must have mitigation strategies created and submitted to building administrators for review. Building administrators will submit final proposals to Superintendency for approval.

Kids West child care will proceed with normal enrollment numbers.

Extracurricular activities will take place. Students who

participate in athletics and/or activities are required to wear face masks while indoors. WDMCS will continue to reference guidance from several state and local agencies.

Spectators and visiting teams are required to wear face masks while indoors on district property.

PK families had the opportunity to select online learning. WDMCS teachers will work with a classroom of PK students, which is similar to the 2020-21 school year.

K-6 families had the opportunity to select a third-party, state-approved online learning system, Edgenuity, for their students. Students will work independently, and

Iowa-certified Edgenuity teachers will oversee their work.

To help WDMCS students, families, and staff understand what to do if they are exposed to COVID-19 and/or if they test positive, we updated our COVID-19 exposure flowchart for the 2021-22 school year.

This information applies to STUDENTS and EMPLOYEES. It shares guidance based on if an individual is vaccinated or unvaccinated. The guidelines cover what to do if a student or employee faces any of the following situations.

• Confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis
• Exposed to COVID-19
• Tested negative for COVID-19
• Have COVID-19 symptoms
• Have a different illness diagnosed

IMPORTANT: WDMCS can no longer contact trace outside of an immediate household. Students or staff are not required to quarantine if they learn they may have been exposed. This is a family decision.

View exposure guidelines >

Download flowchart >

The dashboard is updated by noon each Friday with the PREVIOUS week’s data. (The data will show the previous Friday through Thursday's positive case data.)

WHAT WE SHARE

Data is listed by week unless otherwise indicated. Student and staff data is listed as a combined count by school/building.

• Graph with confirmed NEW positive COVID-19 student and staff cases, listed by school/building.
• Graph with total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 students and staff, listed by school/building.

WHAT WE DO NOT SHARE

WDMCS is not allowed to collect close contact information and will not share any close contact data on our dashboard.

View dashboard >

Our COVID-19 community resources section of our website includes information we believe can help families and staff. They include links to:

• Testing locations
• Vaccination sites
• Food/nutrition resources
• Wellness resources
• Technology resources
• Financial/general support resources

Access resources >