WCS will return to a normal school schedule for all current K-12 in-person learners beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 20, the district announced on its website:
Current K-12 in-person learners will begin attending on a regular schedule (5 days a week).
Important Information for next week:
Monday, Jan. 18: Schools are closed to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Tuesday, Jan. 19: All K-12 in-person learners will stay home for remote learning so that our staff can prepare classrooms, food service, and bus routes for the Green Zone schedule. There will be no live remote classes on that day. Preschool students will attend on Tuesday.
Wednesday, Jan. 20: WCS K-12 In-Person Learners will resume a full Green Zone schedule for all in-person learners. All in-person learners will begin attending on our typical school schedule (5 days a week). Preschool students will continue their current schedule.
Students will be able to return to a normal and routine schedule, which will benefit them socially, emotionally, and academically. Families (parents and guardians) can operate on a more routine schedule and have more support balancing work and childcare schedules.
As always, we will continue to monitor the situation and will adjust our plans and timeline based on the health and well-being of our students, staff, and community. Our ability to maintain a normal school schedule is dependent on the health of our community. Please continue to do all that you can to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Virtual Ed students will continue with their virtual learning program.
FAQs
1. Why are we going to a Green Zone schedule when the county is still at alert level 3?
Although our county remains at alert level 3, we are not seeing spikes in the indicators. Several of the indicators are trending down. Research from the Ohio COVID-19 Evaluation Team determined that when recommended protocols are being followed in supervised school settings COVID-19 is not spreading in these environments.
Fewer students and staff will need to be in quarantine if they are wearing their masks properly and maintaining appropriately 3 feet of social distancing. See ODH’s COVID-19 Fact Sheet K-12: Exposure and Quarantine (School Quarantine Guidelines pdf) for the most recent information regarding close contact and quarantine guidelines for schools.
Our school dashboard for positive COVID-19 cases does not indicate that there were any significant changes when we were in the Yellow (Hybrid) Zone or the Green (Full In-Person) Zone.
• Our students and staff are:
• Vigilant in wearing masks properly
• Keeping as much distance as possible
• Frequently and properly washing and/or sanitizing hands
• Frequently sanitizing high touch surfaces
• Checking temperatures twice a day
• Monitoring symptoms
• Contact tracing when necessary
• Our district has installed UV lighting in our air systems in every school.
• Our district has essential staff trained in using UV wands for additional disinfection.
• Our district has essential staff trained in using the Ionized spray sanitizers for buses and schools. They have established systems and routines to keep schools sanitized.
2. Why not start the Green Zone on Tuesday instead of Wednesday?
Our staff will be working Tuesday to rearrange classrooms and cafeterias, update bus routes, and make adjustments to food service in order to prepare to safely bring our students together in a green zone schedule. Teachers will also need time to make appropriate adjustments to their lesson plans as we move from an alternating student schedule to having all their in-person learners at the same time.
3. Will schools stay in the green zone for the remainder of the school year?
As always, we will continue to monitor the situation and will adjust our plans and timeline based on the health and well-being of our students, staff, and community. Our ability to maintain a normal school schedule is dependent on the health of our community. Please continue to do all that you can to stop the spread of COVID-19.
4. Will students still be at home on Wednesdays taking Live Remote Classes like last time?
No. All in-person learners will attend every weekday.
5. Will the high school have an early release on Friday, like they did in the fall?
No. We will follow our normal schedule in every building.
6. What if I don’t want my child to attend every weekday?
All in-person learners must attend each school day. We are unable to accommodate custom schedules.
We encourage parents to review our back to school document Important Parent Information for general school information for 2020-21, including safety protocols, notification procedures, and current quarantine guidance from the Ohio Department of Health.
